LEISA India June 2013

no.
2
June 2013 volume 15
Magazine on Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture
LEIS
INDI
Farmers and markets
LEIS
INDI
Dear Readers
June 2013 Volume 15 no. 2
LEISA India is published quarterly by AME Foundation

in collaboration with ILEIA
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Small scale farmers have traditionally been growing local foods on a subsistence level.
The advent of new technologies led to increased production and the surpluses were
being marketed primarily in the local markets. But the opening-up of the economy to
global players and changing consumer food demands has had disastrous effects agriculture became more market oriented, farmers lost control over their food systems to
big agri-businesses and local foods got replaced by globally tradable commodities.
In such situations, a number of market models and institutions have been emerging for
small farmers. This issue of LEISA India focuses on such local alternatives which enable
small farmers to get higher share in the consumer price.
LEISA India
Chief Editor
: K.V.S. Prasad
Managing Editor : T.M. Radha
EDITORIAL TEAM
This issue has been compiled by T.M. Radha
and K.V.S. Prasad
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COVER PHOTO
A local market in Magadi
(Photo: S Jayaraj for AME Foundation)
The AgriCultures Network
LEISA India is a member of the global Agricultures
Network. Seven organisations that provide information
on small-scale, sustainable agriculture worldwide,
and that publish:
Farming Matters (in English)
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LEISA India (in English, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi,
Telugu and Oriya)
AGRIDAPE (West Africa, in French)
Agriculturas Experincias em Agroecologia (Brazil)
LEISA China (China) and
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The editors have taken every care to ensure
that the contents of this magazine are as accurate as
possible. The authors have ultimate responsibility,
however, for the content of individual articles.
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LEISA is about Low-External-Input and Sustainable Agriculture. It is about the technical and social
options open to farmers who seek to improve productivity and income in an ecologically sound way.
LEISA is about the optimal use of local resources and natural processes and, if necessary, the safe
and efficient use of external inputs. It is about the empowerment of male and female farmers and
the communities who seek to build their future on the bases of their own knowledge, skills, values,
culture and institutions. LEISA is also about participatory methodologies to strengthen the capacity
of farmers and other actors, to improve agriculture and adapt it to changing needs and conditions.
LEISA seeks to combine indigenous and scientific knowledge and to influence policy formulation to
create a conducive environment for its further development. LEISA is a concept, an approach and a
political message.
MISEREOR founded in 1958 is the German Catholic Bishops Organisation for Development
Cooperation. For over 50 years MISEREOR has been committed to fighting poverty in Africa, Asia
and Latin America. MISEREORs support is available to any human being in need regardless of
their religion, ethnicity or gender. MISEREOR believes in supporting initiatives driven and owned by
the poor and the disadvantaged. It prefers to work in partnership with its local partners. Together
with the beneficiaries, the partners involved help shape local development processes and implement
the projects. This is how MISEREOR, together with its partners, responds to constantly changing
challenges. (www.misereor.de; www.misereor.org)
AME Foundation promotes sustainable livelihoods through combining indigenous knowledge and innovative technologies for Low-External-Input natural
resource management. Towards this objective, AME Foundation works with small and marginal farmers in the Deccan Plateau region by generating farming
alternatives, enriching the knowledge base, training, linking development agencies and sharing experience.
AMEF is working closely with interested groups of farmers in clusters of villages, to
enable them to generate and adopt alternative farming practices. These locations with
enhanced visibility are utilised as learning situations for practitioners and promoters of
eco-farming systems, which includes NGOs and NGO networks. www.amefound.org
Board of Trustees
Dr. R. Dwarakinath, Chairman
Dr. Vithal Rajan, Member
Mr. S.L. Srinivas, Treasurer
Dr. M. Mahadevappa, Member
LEISA INDIA JUNE 2013
Dr. N.K. Sanghi, Member

Dr. N.G. Hegde, Member
Dr. T.M. Thiyagarajan, Member
Prof. V. Veerabhadraiah, Member
Sri. Chiranjiv Singh, IAS, Member
ILEIA the centre for learning on sustainable agriculture is a

member of AgriCultures Network which shares knowledge and
provides information on small-scale family farming and
agroecology. (www.theagriculturesnetwork.org). The network , with
members from all over the world - Brazil, China, India, Kenya, the
Netherlands, Peru and Senegal, produces six regional magazines
and one global magazine. In addition, is involved in various
processes to promote family farming and agroecology. The ILEIA
office in The Netherlands functions as the secretariat of the network.
Farmer producer organisations

Enhancing farmers share in the consumer price
P Nandeesa, R Sanjeev and R S S Hopper
Muttlur farmers are increasing their
share in the consumer price by
organizing themselves as producer
organization. By resolving issues of
trader exploitation, exploring new
markets, accessing timely credit and
quality inputs, these farmers are
reaping
benefits
through
commitment and collective action.
12
Rythu Bazaars
The alternative marketing channel
Subhendu Dey
Rythu Bazaar, a government
initiative in Andhra Pradesh, to
facilitate direct marketing for
farmers is going strong even after
14 years of its establishment. With
all its limitations, the initiative is
largely benefitting both producers and consumers.
26
Forest Roots Network

Strengthening links between producers and
consumers
Nina Abigail Caligiorne Cruz, Fabricio Vassalli Zanelli,
Heitor Mancini Teixeira and Irene Maria Cardoso
As in many other parts of the world, farmers in the Zona da Mata
region, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, were encouraged
to take up the Green Revolution package. This model also
prescribed integration with the international markets; not only
for selling coffee, but also for the purchase of inputs. Family
farmers, however, have found that this model has not brought the
promised benefits. Many different efforts have led to viable
alternatives that benefit both producers and consumers. One of
these is the Rede Razes da Mata or Forest Roots Network.
34
Group farming
A community farming initiative
Seema Gupta and Ganesh Parida
Farmers of Tumajore village in
Odisha show that community
farming results in better utilization
of common resources, enhancement
of the livelihoods by providing
employment
and
reducing
migration. Today, group farming has
spread to many surrounding villages.
CONTENTS
Vol. 15 no. 2, June 2013
Including Selections from International Edition
Editorial

Linking markets for better incomes

Sreenath Dixit, K A Gopinath, L Uday Kiran and B Anuradha
12 Rythu Bazaars
Subhendu Dey
15 Harvesting happiness from wastelands
Puspalata Pani
18 Interview: Medius Bihunirwa
We need to support what farmers are already doing
Laura Eggens
21 Devpasli
A tribal farmers cooperative
Raghvendra Dubey, Arvind Patel, A K Chourasia and
Meena Gokhale
24 Participatory Guarantee Systems
Making organic certification more accessible for small
scale farmers
Flavia Castro and Cornelia Kirchner
26 Forest Roots Network
Strengthening links between producers and consumers
28 Return of the Desi Rice
Seema G Prasad
30 The Narayana Reddy Column
Its time to look for local alternatives
31 New Books
33 Sources
34 Group farming
3
Editorial
Farmers and markets
The challenges for family farmers have increased multifold with

the introduction of free trade policies of the government. Food
supply has increasingly fallen under the control of giant
multinational corporations. There is an unprecedented level of
control on the entire food supply from production and processing
to distribution and consumption of food. Food is no more a source
for survival, it has turned into a commodity for profit. By replacing
the local traditional food systems with foods which could be traded
globally, small farmers have lost control not only on their traditional
foods but also on the way the food has to be produced. This has a
disastrous effect on family farmers, food security, and the
environment.
An equally massive standardisation process has been experienced
on the consumers side. The political and economic power
accumulated by major players in food retailing has led to the
imposition of industrialised junk food, the homogenisation of diets
and, by the same token, the destruction of local markets through
which family farmers have traditionally sold their produce. The
growing homogenisation of production and consumption practices
is both a cause and a consequence of the emergence of what Jan
Douwe van der Ploeg calls the food empires (2008), the
governance mechanisms for food and agriculture at a global scale.
Truly international, their power increasingly extends to the
economic and political arenas, and they now capture an ever larger
share of the value added along the food chain.
Local alternatives
In response to changing external conditions, many local alternatives

have been emerging to address the issue of marketing for family
farmers. Contract farming has been the foremost one tried by
farmers in several crops like tomatoes, potatoes, gherkin, baby
corn, onions, cotton etc. However, the contractual arrangements
with private companies while helping small and marginal farmers
overcome constraints in accessing inputs, credit, extension and
marketing, has an inherent risk of companies promoting
monocultures and intensifying inequitable benefit sharing. Other
forms of emerging farmer markets are E-choupal, which in addition
Photo: S Jayaraj (AME Foundation)
mall scale family farmers in India, though are seasonal

producers and produce on a smaller scale, yet contribute to
the food security of the nation. Traditionally, these family
farmers have been on a subsistence level producing small surpluses
to the market. With low production, poor market orientation and
lack of value addition capacity, small farmers end up having low
bargaining power in the market, receiving low returns for their
produce.
Graded tomatoes, ready for market
to forward integrating farmers into the markets, sells agricultural

inputs and other products of the organisations through backward
supply chain movements.
Motivated by the success of dairy cooperatives in India, farmers
in many areas have tried cooperatives as an institutional form to
market produce. Devpasli mandli, a farmers cooperative described
in this issue is one such initiative which, besides improving
incomes, brought about immense impacts on the social lives of
tribal communities in Gujarat.(Raghavendra Dubey, et.al., p.21)
The cooperative facilitated forward and backward linkages to its
members and has been successful in eliminating middlemen in
marketing many products like soyabean, black gram, groundnut
and vegetables.
Other models of marketing which are operating successfully are
the Rytu Bazars in Andhra Pradesh, and Apna Mandi in Punjab,
which enable direct interaction between producers and consumers.
These markets, supported by the respective State governments are
largely benefitting both producers and consumers, inspite of its
limitations.(Subhendu Dey, p.12)
Producer companies are emerging as an institution models for
efficient marketing by small farmers. Formed generally around a
specific commodity, the members benefit through economies of
scale. The real challenge in such initiatives lies in organising the
small and marginal farmers in improving their production and
linking them to better markets through collectivization. MSSRF,
Vegetable market in a small town
(p.6) helped the Muttlur farmers from trader exploitation by helping

them form producer organization and enabling them to get a major
share of the value chain.
With the emergence of super market chains, efforts are made to
link farmers and farmer groups to the MNC retail outlets. In an
effort to enhance farmers share in the retail market price, the
National Agricultural Innovation Project helped mango farmer
groups get linked to retail outlets like Reliance, Heritage foods
etc. (Dixit et.al., p.9) The farmers realized better price for their
produce, initially. The biggest challenge, however, was the ability
to adjust to the fluctuating demand. Left with surpluses and lack
of storage infrastructure, farmers had to face losses. International
experience has also shown that, except for the huge profits raked
in by the supermarket chains, organized retail did not benefit small
farmers and the consumers too.
Way forward
In a situation where transnational corporations are playing an
increasingly dominant role in the worlds agri-food systems, two
of the greatest challenges that family farmers face are developing
strategies to improve market access and adding value to their
agricultural production.
that is not contaminated by pesticides and is free from GMOs. But

for many small farmers who are organic producers, obtaining thirdparty certification is a challenge denying them access to premium
prices. For such farmers, PGS has evolved as an inclusive solution
for domestic markets and short chains. It is an effective way to
develop local markets for organically produced food.
There are many successful experiences that set examples that may
be amenable to replication. In general, these successful cases
involve developing closer relationships between producers and
consumers through revitalising and reorganising local or regional
markets, in ways that create space for economically beneficial
exchanges and also promote the biologically-diverse and culturallycontextualised production, typical of family farming.
References
Paulo Petersen, Building markets: A challenge for family
farming, Farming Matters, Vol 29, 2, June 2013
Van der Ploeg, J.D., 2008, The new peasantries: struggles for
autonomy and sustainability in an era of empire and
globalization, London, Earthscan.
While family farmers are working to improve access to markets,

they are also benefitting from an increasing demand from an urban
population interested in consuming healthier, good quality, food
5
Harvesting and packing onions

Muttlur farmers are increasing their share in the consumer
price by organizing themselves as producer organization.
By resolving issues of trader exploitation, exploring new
markets, accessing timely credit and quality inputs, these
farmers are reaping benefits through commitment and
collective action.
ost of the people in the Karasanur micro watershed area

are either landless or belong to the marginal and small
farmer category. The micro watershed of 500 hectares
falls under the Nallavur sub watershed of Vanur block, Villupuram
district, Tamil Nadu. The average rainfall in this area is about 1200
mm, lower than the district average. The soil characteristics vary
from sandy loam to clay loam and about 10% of land area has
alkaline problems. Various climatic factors has resulted in
agriculture becoming economically unviable, leading to food,
income and livelihood insecurity.
The major crops grown in the area are paddy and onion. In
Karasanur and adjoining villages, onion farmers own an average
landholding of 2 to 3 acres with around 250 acres land involved in
production of onion. They produce a popular local variety named
as Muttlur, originated from this village. The variety has good
export and local demand due to its high pungency. Each bulb has
2-4 splits/plant and the shelf life is about 15 days. The seeds are
sourced from Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu.
Farmers immediately after harvesting onion, sell the produce to
village level merchants. It is sold as soon as possible as the weight
of onion reduces up to 30% if it is stored longer and also because
farmers can get money immediately. The production cost is about
Rs. 27,383/- per acre of which 68% is spent on labour. With an
average production of 44 quintals per acre, the income derived is
around Rs. 44,000.
Usually traders buy onion from the farmers immediately after
harvest and sell to the wholesalers or retailers for a better price.
Some of the traders also make value addition by drying, grading,
sorting and storing the onion. The trader annually deals with around
100 tonnes of onion produce in the market, which shows that there
is strong business relation with the farmers. The trader is also
cautious about the quality of the produce because the purchasers
While the farmer receives only 17% of the

returns from the entire onion value chain, the
wholesaler makes the maximum profit
receiving 43% of the profits.
Flow of money in Onion Value Chain: Karasanur Village

(per kg figures)
Role
Cost Involved
Profit Margin
Consumption
Actors/ Enabler
Consumer
Retailing
Rs. 0.32 (3.8%)
Rs. 4.68 (21.6%)
Retailer
Trading
Rs. 1.26 (15.1%)
Rs. 9.27 (42.8%)
Wholesaler
Trading
Rs. 0.53 (6.4%)
Rs. 3.94 (18.2%)
Middlemen
Production
Rs. 6.23 (74.7%)
Rs. 3.77 (17.4%)
Farmer
Source BIWS report by ALCI India
demand an export quality produce to attract the international

market. Maximum produce is exported by big traders to countries
like Malaysia, Singapore, etc.
Of the total cost around 74.7% is incurred by the farmer, while the
trader, wholesaler and retailer incur 6.42%, 15.12% & 3.75%. On
the profit side, while the trader, wholesaler and retailer receive
18.18%, 42.76% & 21.63%, the share of the farmer is only 17.43%.
While the onion farmer faces a huge risk as a primary producer, it
is the wholesaler and the retailer who make good profits.
Adopting Climate Smart practices

In 2007, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) started
implementing a project Community Managed Bio-industrial
Watersheds for Sustainable use of Natural Resources and Enhanced
Livelihood in Karasanur watershed area along with five different
agro-ecological sites in four states across India. The interventions
on sustainable agriculture began with MSSRF facilitating formation
of Farmers Business Groups (FBG) in each village (similar to the
SHG model) to access microcredit and for easy facilitation during
Farmers Field Schools.
Holding a bountiful harvest
A joint problem analysis was carried out through focus group

discussions. The analysis with the farmers revealed that seed quality
is poor, farmers practiced random sowing, erratic rainfall increased
the incidence of pest and diseases and the produce fetched low
price. The problems were ranked; solutions were discussed based
on economic viability, ecological compatibility and social
acceptability. The pre-production, production and post harvest
processes were carried out in a Farmers Field School (FFS)
approach, with joint monitoring and documentation. The field days
provided opportunities for wide dissemination of knowledge
gained. The lead farmers trained under ToTs played an important
role as demonstrative model farmers and in peer learning processes.
Farmers discussing with traders
7
timely credit for inputs and quality seeds through convergence,

commitment and concerted stakeholders action.
Collective marketing through Farmers Producer

Organisation
In 2009, an informal federation of the Farmers Business Groups
(FBG) was formed and a bank account was opened in the name of
the federation Nallavur Farmers Producers Organization (FPO).
Around 400 small and marginal farmers (25 Farmers Business
Groups) engaged in onion / paddy agribusiness activities.
The FPO is being managed jointly by MSSRF and the FBG
members with clear roles and responsibilities MSSRF playing
the role of knowledge service provider. The monthly meetings,
purchase of inputs, marketing, financial management and
monitoring is done by the Executive committee.
Women farmers harvesting onions
Some of the climate smart practices adopted were use of good

quality seeds, amendments based on soil health card
recommendations, ridge and furrow method of cultivation,
maintaining plant population of 88,000 seedlings per acre,
following a spacing of 45cms X 10cms, providing adequate
drainage, adopting Integrated Pest Management practices , planting
early and harvesting before onset of monsoon. The village based
agro meteorology center provided regular updates through the
Village Knowledge Center to enable farmers take appropriate
decisions. Community Climate Risk Managers (CCRM) facilitated
and conducted climate literacy programmes to make the farmer
understand their vulnerabilities.
The Village Resource Center (VRC) in Pilliyarkuppam village in
Puducherry is connected to The Village Knowledge Center (VKC)
located in Nallavur village. The space, electricity and salary of
one staff for the VKC are provided by the village panchayat. The
farmers and women from 10 watershed villages access the VKC
on a daily basis for information on the prevailing weather, problems
in crop production, various Government schemes, new knowledge
on good cultivation practices and market information. The PTD
farmers are all virtually connected to receive text and voice
messages from the Village Resource Center (VRC) on a fortnightly
basis based on the needs discussed in the FFS and the growth of
the crop. Phone in programmes (face to face interactions) involving
experts is done on a monthly basis.
Exposure visits to other FPO has enhanced farmers knowledge

and understanding in successfully managing the company.
Organising themselves as FPO has enabled farmers plan for the
season, purchase inputs collectively and repay the revolving loan
to a common account.
In 2011, a marketing committee was formed, which was
responsible for dealing with the traders and marketing of produce.
The farmers received updated information on the prices of onion
through the Village Knowledge Center (VKC) from the
neighboring markets and from Chennai. It was a very challenging
task as many of the farmers were already in long-term traditional
contractual agreements with the local traders. Through the FPO,
farmers were able to demand fair trade practices - price, correct
measurements, logistics support at Rs. 1200 per bag at the export
price at Chennai and Rs. 850 locally.
In 2012, with neighboring village farmers joining the FPO, the
farmers committee decided to tap the export market at Chennai
and were able to get Rs. 1700/bag against the local rates of Rs.
900/bag. Thus, the horizontal linkages of farmers also motivated
them to collectively purchase inputs and seeds.
The FPO also have plans for the future. They plan to construct a
drying, grading and storage place for adding value to their produce
and thereby receive better price.
The number of farmers who practiced onion cultivation increased

from 23 farmers in 2008 to more than 400 farmers. The yields
increased from 2.5 tons/acre to 4 tons/acre. Some of the farmers
also harvested upto 5.5 tons/acre.
Acknowledgements: We thank the Nallavur watershed community

for their cooperation and commitment in the transforming process.
The financial support from the Jamsetji Tata Trust, Mumbai is
gratefully acknowledged. The overall guidance provided by the
Executive Director of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
is appreciated.
The Watershed community has demonstrated that through the

adoption of scientific methods of water harvesting and efficient
use, equitable sharing, climate smart agricultural practices through
an institutional system, income and food security can be enhanced.
The farmers have become resilient and are able to get a major
share in the value chain by resolving issues of trader exploitation,
exploring new markets, adopting to price volatility, accessing
P Nandeesa
Project Coordinator,
Bioindustrial Watershed Project,
Villupuram,
M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation, 3rd cross Street,
Taramani Institutional Area Chennai 600 0113
E-mail: nandeeshcp@gmail.com
Linking markets for better incomes

Sreenath Dixit, K A Gopinath,
L Uday Kiran and B Anuradha
Building market linkage is crucial for enabling farmers get
better incomes. Facilitating market linkage involves
understanding the demand and supply situation, transient
storage opportunities, transport infrastructure and easy
access to markets. The National Agricultural Innovation
Project succeeded in fostering collective marketing by
farmers and enhancing their bargaining power.
ost of the rural areas are characterized by subsistence

economy. The surplus farm produce is offered for sale
after meeting the family requirements. Further,
individual production units (families) mostly operate separately
making it difficult to pool the produce for efficient marketing.
The present marketing system in most of the villages is fraught
with many constraints viz. unorganized, unregulated and
unprofitable systems, middlemen-dominated, and unreliable
marketing channels. Facilitating market linkage involves
understanding of the demand and supply situation, transient storage
opportunities, transport infrastructure and easy access to markets.
The idea is to intervene at any of these steps in the value chain to
enhance farmers share in the retail market price. Pooling the farm
produce and marketing through producers groups/organizations
can be one of the means to overcome the constraints faced by
small and marginal farmers.
Retailers lift the produce at the farm gate
As a part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP),

a focused attempt was made to encourage group approach for
marketing of farm produce, which provides critical mass of produce
and also improves farmers bargaining power. The project aimed
at providing strong market linkages for enhancing returns to farmers
on their produce, as non-remunerative prices were found to be the
major cause of low profitability to farmers. The project titled
Sustainable Rural Livelihoods through Enhanced Farming
Systems Productivity and Efficient Support Systems in Rainfed
Areas was implemented in Adilabad, Anantapur, Kadapa,
Khammam, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Rangareddy and Warangal
districts of Andhra Pradesh during 2007-2012. The project piloted
a few interventions in Ibrahimpur (Rangareddy), B.Y. Gudi
(Kadapa) and Dupahad (Nalgonda) clusters to remove bottlenecks
in marketing of farm produce by small holder families.
Value addition and marketing of pigeonpea

A large number of farmers in Ibrahimpur cluster (Rangareddy)
cultivate pigeonpea. To provide value addition to pigeonpea, a dal
processing unit of one-ton capacity per day was established in the
name of Village Organization (VO). This was registered as
Ibrahimpur Grama Sneha Sangam NPM Dal Processing Unit,
with District Industries Centre, Rangareddy district. A five member
committee drawn from different SHGs was formed as Dal
processing group, and enabled to operate the unit on behalf of
VO. A revolving fund of rupees two lakhs was advanced as loan
Farmers realized higher returns by selling the

produce to retailers compared to traditional
system of selling either to middlemen or in the
local market
Table 1: Pigeonpea procurement by SHGs

Village
SHG
Ibrahimpur
Basireddypalli
Bompally
Bompally
Total
Chaitanya
Swathi
Mahalaxmi
Bisimilla
Loan amount
(Rs.)
1,00,000
2,00,000
45,000
20,000
3,65,000
Quantity procured
(t)
2.48
3.75
1.22
0.52
7.97
to the members from the project for procurement and processing

of the pigeonpea produced through non-pesticidal management
(NPM). In addition to this, another Rs 4 lakhs revolving fund was
advanced to watersheds of Budalpur, Basireddypalli, Bompally
villages, to procure pigeonpea produced through NPM practices.
Procurement of pigeonpea was done through different SHGs and
about 8 tons of pigeonpea was procured by SHGs for processing
during 2010-11 (Table 1).
The trial running of the machine showed that there was recovery
of 58% Grade-I Dal and 12% Grade-II Dal. Overall recovery was
about 70%. The processing charges worked out to be Rs. 550/q
including the rent for infrastructure. The byproducts such as third
quality broken dal, flour and husk were not taken by the SHGs
and were valued at a token rate of Rs. 10/kg. After deducting the
costs and overheads, the procurement groups realized profits to
the tune of Rs. 627/q, over and above the procurement costs
(Table 2).
Further, linkage was established with Safe Harvest Pvt Ltd. of
non-pesticide management initiative group (NPMI) for marketing
of NPM pigeon pea dal. The company has established direct
Table 2: Details of investments and profits made by SHGs (2010-11)
Village
SHG
Basireddypalli Swathi
Quantity Amount Amount

procured invested realized
(t)
(Rs.)
(Rs.)
3.75
1,30,000
1,54,471
Profit*
(Rs.)
24,471
Bompally
Mahalaxmi
1.22
44,250
53,753
9,503
Bompally
Bisimilla
0.52
20,500
23,326
2,826
Ibrahimpur
Chaitanya
2.48
90,000
1,03,134
13,134
7.97
2,84,750
3,34,684
49,934
Total
linkages with various retail chains, wholesalers etc., for building a

market for NPM produce across India. Apart from the Safe Harvest
Pvt Ltd., market linkages were established with Hyderabad based
retail chains such as Spencers, Hyper Market and Heritage Foods.
Marketing linkages for watermelon

In Dupahad cluster of Nalgonda, farmers generally cultivate large
sized watermelons and sell them to the middlemen who would
enter into some pre-harvest agreement. However, the farmers
usually lost about 10% of the produce while selling, rejected as
waste by middlemen. Many times, the buyers fixed the price for
the produce on an area basis irrespective of the quantity.
After studying the issues related to melon cultivation and marketing,
farmers were engaged in a series of meetings to switch over to
small sized watermelons which are in demand with the retailers.
They were facilitated with purchase of seeds from reputed seed
producers and trained on package of practices by experts. Later,
consultations were held with a number of retailers based in
Hyderabad including Heritage Foods India Ltd. (HFIL), Aditya
Birla Retail (MORE), Reliance India Ltd. (RIL), Spencers Retail,
Arunodaya Enterprises (Taaza stores), ITC Choupal Fresh, Vedic
Foods, Future Group (Big Bazaar) and Spar Stores. All except Big
Bazaar were convinced with the marketing linkage concept of the
project.
Further, farmer interactions were arranged with major retailers like
Aditya Birla Retail and Heritage Foods India Limited. A pre-harvest
agreement was facilitated with the retailers. Harvesting of
watermelons was done as per the orders received by the retailers
and a total of 26 tons of watermelon was sold to retailers during
the season. Farmers realized higher returns by selling the produce
to retailers compared to traditional system of selling, either to
middlemen or in the local market (Table 3). The melon farmers
were pleased with the cultivation and marketing of small sized
watermelons.
* Interest on loan was not taken into consideration

Table 3: Comparative efficiency of different marketing channels
Particulars
10
Cost (Rs/kg)
Seed (per kg of harvest)
Transport
Commission (10%)
Others
Total
Price (Rs/kg)
Gross
Net
Traditional system
Market linkage
Farm gate
Local market
0.05
1.00
1.05
0.05
0.50
0.40
1.00
1.95
0.15
1.20
1.00
2.35
3.00
1.95
4.00
2.05
6.35
4.01
Women grade mangoes based on quality

Table 4: Benefits from market linkages in mango
Particulars
No. of buyers
No. of
beneficiaries
Total tonnage
Retailer net
price (Rs/kg)
Net price in
local market
(Rs/kg)
Total
transaction
(Rs)
Benefit
(%) to farmers
Year
Average Total
2008
2009
2010
2011
1
1
2
2
2
6
5
9
8
10.5
20
13.9
41
14.7
164
13.4
13.1
9.0
11.2
11.3
10.8
10.6
12
233
96000 377000 649956 2405388
16.7
23.7
30.4
24.5
Rs 35,28,344
23.6
Mango growers groups

Mango farmers tend to sell the produce as soon as the local market opens,
in anticipation of getting higher price at the beginning of the season. Once
harvest time approaches, all mango growers start to dump the produce at
local market, resulting in a glut in the market, leading to lower price for
the produce. To overcome this, mango growers were organised into
societies in cluster villages of Kadapa and Nalgonda for establishing direct
market linkages with the retailers. These mango societies comprised of
President, Vice-President, Secretary, Joint Secretary, Treasurer and two
Executive members representing the group. Sri Aurobindo Mango
Growers Society in Dupahad cluster, Nalgonda, is one of them.
Similarly, a womens group was formed in B.Y. Gudi

(Kadapa), which took up marketing of graded mangoes with
the brand name of Pakka Honey in the urban markets. They
were linked to a number of retailers including Heritage
Foods India Pvt. Ltd., Reliance India Limited, Spencers,
Spar, More, ITCs Choupal Fresh and Metro. A few mango
growers were also linked to M/s Subhiksha, a leading retail
chain. The retailer price was always higher compared to
the local market in Suryapet and Gaddiannaram market
(Hyderabad). On an average, farmers realized 24% higher
profitability during the 4 year period (Table 4), owing to
linking to retailers.
However, one of the most important problems encountered
was that the indent required by retailers was too less
compared to the farmers production in the project clusters.
For example, the production capacity of Dupahad cluster
crosses 250 metric tons in a season which is much more
than the required indent by retailers. Therefore, farmers
still need to explore newer markets to offload their produces.
Sreenath Dixit, K A Gopinath and B Anuradha

Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture
(CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad 500 059, India.
E-mail: sdixit@crida.in
L Uday Kiran
IKISAN, IKISAN Limited No 1, Nagarjuna Hills,
Panjagutta, Hyderabad 500 082, India.
11
A typical stall at Rythu Bazaar
Rythu Bazaars
Subhendu Dey
Rythu Bazaar, a government initiative in Andhra Pradesh,
to facilitate direct marketing for farmers is going strong
even after 14 years of its establishment. With all its
limitations, the initiative is largely benefitting both producers
and consumers.
12
ndhra Pradesh is the second largest producer of fruits and

the fourth largest producer of vegetables in the country
with a combined production of 233.84 lakh tonnes. Yet,
farmers share in the consumers rupee is estimated to be just 40
paise, mostly on account of the marketing system for fruits and
vegetables being in the hands of middlemen. An additional
estimated loss in handling of vegetables in the traditional channel of
marketing is about 30 to 35 percent. By providing farmers an
alternative channel, some of these inefficiencies existing in the
system can get addressed.
Rythu Bazaar Genesis

It is common knowledge that inefficiencies in the wholesale
markets result in a long chain of intermediaries, multiple handling,
loss of quality, which increase the gap between the price at which
the consumer purchases his vegetables and the price that the grower
gets. Large number of small retailers, each handling small
quantities, create high overheads leading to high price. The state
government of Andhra Pradesh, therefore decided on working
towards the creation of a market where both growers and consumers
get benefitted. Thus, Rythu Bazaars were established.
The Government of Andhra Pradesh started Rythu Bazaar in 1999
with the principal objective of helping farmers bring and sell their
produce without the involvement of any middleman or marketing
intermediary. Both farmers and consumers get benefitted with
direct marketing as it helps ensure higher remuneration for the
farmers and provides fresh vegetables at cheaper rates to the
consumers. The usefulness of direct marketing at Rythu Bazaars
is increased by the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Marketing
Department providing facilities like weighing scales for proper
weighing, transportation, stalls for the farmers operating from these
market yards. These market yards operate outside the purview of
the Agriculture Market Committees and are managed by Estate
Officers (administrative in charge of Rythu Bazaars) under the
control of Revenue Department of the Andhra Pradesh State
Government.
Currently there are 102 Rythu Bazaars in the State functioning
from the last 14 years. To understand the strengths and weaknesses
of these Rythu bazaars, an empirical study was taken up using
SWOT analysis. This article focuses on the results of this study
and suggests action for improvement.
Functioning
Rythu Bazaars are located in government plots convenient to
farmers as well as consumers. Built on a minimum one acre vacant
land, the infrastructure provided by the government included sheds,
arrangements for supply of drinking water, toilets with sanitation
facility, parking for vehicles, arrangements for removal of garbage
and cleaning of market by local body, facility for storage of unsold
produce, provisions of weighing scales for all farmers, telephone,
fax etc. The state government of Andhra Pradesh meets all the
capital expenditure which varies according to the land prices
prevailing in an area. At present, market yards are mostly set up
by the State Governments. For setting up of agricultural markets,
funds are sourced from NABARD. Apart from developing the
Babji, a 45 year old farmer from Naimatullaguda village of Narsapur
mandal under Medak district has seen his income jump by about
35 percent since the time he started operating from these markets.
Heading a family of five in which Babji and his father are involved in
agriculture and only Babji himself sells the produce, increased
earnings has helped this illiterate farmer to send both his children
to school. There are many more like Babji who have benefitted from
these markets.
Farmers who have no stall also sell vegetables at Rythu Bazaar
market yards, free supply of weighing machines and free transport

of vegetables to the farmers market in selected Andhra Pradesh
State Road Transport Corporation run buses is also provided to
the farmers. Horticultural services and seed supply at subsidized
rates also benefit the farmers. Every Rythu Bazaar has an Estate
Officer, Assistant Estate Officers, supervisors, night watchman,
office boys, and sweepers.
When the farmers enter into a Rythu Bazaar, the vegetables brought
by them are weighed correctly and then the quantity is entered in
a register which is later put up on the Rythu Bazaar website. The
farmers therefore do not lose on account of faulty weighing
practices. For the consumers also, vegetables are weighed
accurately and they receive the vegetables at a price which is about
15% lower than the supermarkets.
Price of vegetables is determined by the Estate Officers in
consultation with a farmers committee with representation from
each of the mandal falling under the market. The process is
transparent and the prices are usually 20 to 25 percent higher than
the whole sale price and lower than the local retail market prices
in the area. Sale of vegetables in Rythu Bazaars is only for cash
and hence there is no problem of delayed payment or bad debts.
During the week days, the quantity of vegetables that are brought
to the market is in the range of 1000 - 2500 quintals. This goes up
13
On a typical weekday, around 300-400

farmers sell in Rythu bazaar and the
number of customers range from
16000-20000
by about 500 quintals in the weekends. The total worth of
transactions that happen on an average on week days ranges
between 10 20 lakhs which even goes upto 35 - 40 lakhs during
weekends for some of the markets. In a model Rythu Bazaar like
the one in Erragada in Hyderabad, it has been observed that on
weekdays about 300 to 400 farmers transact while the number of
customers range from 16000 to 20000. These numbers go up
significantly during the weekends and holidays to 500 to 600
farmers and 25000 to 30000 customers.
Supervisors at Rythu Bazaars keep track of the quantity of produce
that comes into the market yards each day. This helps them divert
some of the produce to some select localities through mobile vans
known as Mobile Rythu Bazaars (MRB). Rythu Bazaars also
encourage bulk purchases for marriage and other functions which
enables higher turnover in the market.
Challenges and limitations

Although the central idea of Rythu Bazaars was to eliminate
middlemen and provide a platform for the direct interaction
between farmers and consumers, yet reports suggest that there exist
middlemen in all Rythu Bazaars. There is some sense of
dissatisfaction among the farmers on the inability on the part of
the authorities to avoid the entry of middlemen into the market
yards. It is widely alleged that traders enter the farmers market
without original identity cards. The small farmers for whom these
market yards have been developed are not getting a chance to sell
their vegetables. For example, in the Mehdipatnam Rythu Bazaar,
some reports suggest that out of every 4 vendors, 3 are middlemen.
These middlemen also charge more than the price fixed by the
price fixation committee thereby delineating a set of consumers
and increasing the dissatisfaction of another set of consumers.
Lack of proper infrastructure in these markets acts as a great
limitation for many farmers. For example, lack of storage facilities
resulted in getting lower price during evenings compared to
morning hours. In a survey conducted by the author, 84 percent of
the farmer respondents were dissatisfied with the provision of
storage facility. Moreover, there was no provision for cold storage
facility for unsold vegetables, thus reducing their price margin.
Farmers also felt that the transport arrangements made for bringing
the farmers produce to the Rythu Bazaars are inadequate. Also,
the number of stalls is found to be inadequate and farmers often
have to market through makeshift stalls. The makeshift stalls
adversely impact trade during rainy season. And not all farmers
are aware of the method of allocating the stalls.
14
The farmers markets face stiff competition from wholesale market.

The bulk buyers prefer to buy from the wholesale market as the
price fixed at Rythu Bazaars is 20 percent higher than that of the
wholesale market. Also, there are 20 functional wholesale market
yards in Hyderabad (7) and RR District (13) as compared to only

9 Rythu Bazaars. Wholesalers are much more affluent and can
adversely influence the functioning of the Rythu Bazaars.
Way ahead
While Rythu bazaars are fraught with challenges, building on their
strengths will help in keeping these farmers markets moving.
Already there are innovative ideas which have taken shape. For
example, since most of the bazaars are in prime locations in the
city with no scope for future expansion, Rythu Bazaars have taken
the initiative to sell vegetables at colonies in the city where Rythu
bazars are not present with the help of MRBs. With the population
increasing significantly, more MRBs can help create opportunities
for increased earnings for the farmers.
Efforts to educate and train farmers on modern methods of farming
will go a long way in increasing the area under vegetable cultivation
and improving the productivity. Also training farmers in dealing
with customers will help in building relationships, thereby getting
patronage of an increased number of consumers.
Subhendu Dey
Dean and Campus Head
Globsyn Business School,
National Campus, Mouza Chandi,
P.S. Bishnupur,
Amtala, JL No. 101,
Dt. 24 Parganas South,
D.H. Road, Kolkata 743503,
West Bengal.
E-mail: dey004@gmail.com
www.globsyn.edu.in
Mangoes ready for harvest
Harvesting happiness from

wastelands
Puspalata Pani
With a little support from outside, tribal communities in
Panposi village have turned their wastelands into
productive assets. Trees raised on waste lands have not
only increased their incomes, but also bound the
communities together and to the village, arresting
migration.
anposi village in Jashipur block is one of the tribal dominated

villages, largely dependent on paddy cultivation under
rainfed conditions. Around 38% land in the village is
unbounded uplands. Excepting for 10% of this land being used by
farmers for cultivating upland paddy, the rest of the uplands have
remained barren for years as it is not suitable to grow any food
crop. Around 40-50 families have been regularly migrating to
nearby towns in search of livelihood.
To arrest migration of farmers during periods of food scarcity and

to improve their farm incomes, Dulal, an NGO with the support of
NABARD, promoted wadi model of development in this village.
This was one of the 31 wadi projects in Orissa, promoted by
NABARD.
While the core of the programme is Wadi, other development
interventions are built around Wadi. Besides raising trees, there
are other components of soil moisture conservation, access to
irrigation by digging wells where feasible. Women empowerment
and health component have also found place. Now a component
of food sovereignty is also added where in support is provided for
conducting campaigns and rallies. Intercropping has been a part
of wadi as there are enough spaces in between trees to grow other
crops.
The beginning
In 2005, staff from Dulal visited the village and discussed with
people whether any tree cultivation could be taken up. Initially,
people were reluctant and were doubtful about the intention of
15
Wadi in Gujarati means a small orchard covering one or two

acres. The Wadi as an effective tool for tribal development evolved
gradually out of two decades of concerted efforts made by BAIF in
Vansda (Gujarat). Two or more tree crops are selected in the Wadi
model to minimize the climatic, biological and marketing risks. Tribal
families having less than 5 acre land is given 1 acre wadi each for
raising 60 fruit plants suitable to local area and 600 forestry plants on
the boundary.
outside people. They thought that in the name of development,

people would grab their land. Almost more than a year went in
convincing people to take up plantation. With frequent visits and
discussions, famers were convinced and were prepared to identify
land for tree plantation. In 2007, 53 acres of land was identified to
plant fruit trees. Some people opposed but later joined others and
in 2008, 62 acres of additional land was earmarked for plantation.
In the subsequent years, another 15 acres was added in 2010 and
38 acres in 2011. In total, around 168 acres of wadi plantation can
be seen now.
Peoples institution called Udyan Vikas Samithi was formed with
around 10-12 members to take care of the plantation. Around 14
UVS were formed with a village level committee consisting of
President, Treasurer and a Secretary for each UVS. Members met
twice each month to plan and discuss action. All these 14 UVS
were federated at the block as Amrapalli Self Help Cooperative.
Genesis of Amrapali Self Help Cooperative

In 2009, the harvest from the first batch of trees started and around
400q of fruits were harvested. The UVS members started
wondering how they would market, if the entire area under Badi,
across 25 villages in the block, started yielding fruits. In one of
the block level meetings, the idea of forming cooperatives was
mooted. With the help of Dulal, the members applied for forming
a cooperative and the Amrapali Cooperative was formally
registered in 2010. The cooperative had the responsibility of
handling harvest from 200 acres. The cooperative has now
members from 25 villages, each village represented by 1-2 people,
based on the size of the village.
In 2010, in the very first year, it was a struggle to sell 40000kg of
mango fruits. While they sold in nearby markets like Karanjia,
Rairangpur, Baripada, Bhubaneswar, still they had to sell some
portion through the middlemen too. Then NABARD came up with
a support of providing a space for marketing. Under its Rural Mart
initiative, a shop was set up in Jashipur town, and a staff was
supported to take care of the produce and its marketing through
the outlet. With the establishment of Rural Mart, middlemen totally
disappeared. Again NABARD supported soft loan of Rs 15 lakh
to procure all wadi products directly avoiding middlemen.
16
Yield assessment across villages is done during the fruiting season.

The produce is collected and stored in a house in each village.
Within 2-3 days, these fruits are collected and transported in cartons
and kept in Jashipur Office or Rural Mart center. From there, the
produce is taken to different markets and members share the
Cooperative members grade and pack mangoes
responsibility. The cartons are transported by regular buses. After

they are marketed, the amount is settled with the farmer members.
Positive results
Now the cooperative is on its own. The produce sold by this
cooperative is in high demand as they are grown without using
chemicals. Chemicals like Carbide are also not used for artificial
ripening. The fruits are allowed to ripen naturally using some tree
leaves. Similarly, cashew is also being marketed. It is being sent
to Berhampur for processing. These are sold in fairs and in the
Rural Mart. These are now being branded in the name of Mayuri.
The average yield is 2 kg/plant and they get around Rs.400-600
per kg of cashew kernel.
Infact, Amrapali Cooperative also agreed to market 16 tons of
mango produce harvested from the government owned orchards.
The produce sold by the cooperative is in

high demand as they are grown without using
chemicals. The fruits are allowed to ripen
naturally using some tree leaves and
chemicals like Carbide are also not used for
artificial ripening
The harvest from these orchards came during May (being Dusheri,
an early variety) thus avoiding competition to the Wadi harvest
which came during June-July (late harvest variety).
Communities are selling many more items through the Rural Mart
Centres. They are also doing small scale businesses like buying
produce and selling them as wholesalers. Women from SHGs have
been trained on processing foods like making cheese, paneer and
pickles, which are also being sold in the store. They have also
hired two staff to take care of the marketing in the mart.
Along with wadi, farmers have also improved their cropping
systems. Intercropping in wadi as well as in the other crops like
millet, maize, vegetables and pulses has become a regular practice.
Intercropping with vegetables has helped in increasing income.
One of the farmers who could gift gold ring from the money earned
through intercrop said that I had heard that soil gives gold. Only
now I am seeing it happen.
socialisation. They feel now they are meeting outsiders on a regular

basis who visit their villages and interact with them
The CEO of the cooperative said with pride, When we started
we had to go to Gujarat to learn these. But now, people are coming
to our village to learn
Now there is no more migration. People are engaged all round the
year. Trees have bound these people to their land.
Puspalata Pani
Executive Director,
DULAL
Convent Road, Baripada P.O.
Mayurbhanj District,
Orissa - 757001, India.
Website: www.dulal.in
E-mail: dulalbaripada@yahoo.co.in
With groups and their regular meetings, members feel that Wadi
has helped in bringing them together. Now, there are more
meetings, more discussions, more awareness and more
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17
INTERVIEW MEDIUS BIHUNIRWA
We need to support
what farmers are already
doing
Interview: Laura Eggens
Photo: Pamella Vascocellos/PUC (Rio+20)
Medius Bihunirwa is the head of the Farmer Enterprise

Development Unit at Kabarole Research and Resource
Centre (KRC), Uganda where she works with smallholder
farmers, enhancing the quality of their produce and
improving their access to markets. In her role as member
and researcher of the Hivos/IIED Knowledge Network, she
has delved deeper into the concept of farmer agency and
their interest in being part of a value chain.
RC carries out market studies and shares the results with

farmers. As part of its efforts, it brings the farmers and
traders who are involved in a particular value chain
together, especially those working with coffee, banana, maize and
cocoa, and analyses the results and possibilities. I learnt a lot
about economic agency from the Hivos/IIED Knowledge
Network: the level of power that people have because they
understand their position in the value chain and are able to make
informed choices and decisions about which kind of markets to
access. If you only focus on the classical value chains, you may
fail to understand the other dynamics that small producers in rural
Uganda need to deal with.
Does the value chain approach work?
18
I find that this is a good approach, because it looks at the different

segments of the chain, helps us connect them and improve
efficiency. But pro-poor value chains are not always well
developed. If I make a value chain analysis, I need to be very
critical: does the smallholder farmer really benefit from being part
of it? You often find that other stakeholders, like traders, input
dealers, processors or retailers, are well organised. In reality, the
majority of smallholder farmers are not well organised: only about
10 or 20 percent of the farmers around the world jointly market
their products. And then we need to contextualise the sophisticated
Medius Bihunirwa
value chains that are the focus of international debates. Do farmers

really need to supply supermarkets? In many countries in Africa
the majority of consumers are not supermarket-goers. They buy
from informal markets. As development actors and promoters of
the value chain approach we dont always take the time to
understand the realities of the smallholder farmers, and to
understand the different ways in which they are trying to connect
to different markets on their own, within their own means, using
their own knowledge.
How do farmers do this?

For example here, in Kabarole, banana-farmers from Kasenda
market their products in an informal way. Using mobile phones,
they contact relatives in different towns, such as Fort Portal and
Kampala, to find out the selling price in different regions. This
information is then disseminated through their own networks.
When traders come to their village, they already know the prices
and have the capacity to negotiate. The farmers cut the bananas on
the agreed date and the traders come to collect them. The cycle
ends there. There are no rules, it is an informal way of doing things.
Development workers often think that these farmers will be
cheated. But when we did an in-depth analysis of these
arrangements, we found that there are very high levels of trust.
Their group ties are very strong, even without a formal organisation.
Using their kinship ties to connect to the market, they are able to
beat the formal arrangements that are there. These are pertinent
issues that development workers need to think through.
Is there any way to support these farmers?

At KRC we focus on the power of information. For the banana
farmers in Kabarole, we have been able to build on their existing
internal arrangements. We do market analyses with our partners at
a national level and have a toll-free line whereby farmers can call
for information. Farmers then make the decision to sell in a specific
place on the basis of information that is well researched, in addition
to what they find out through their own network. The liberalisation
of trade has encouraged traders to go as far as the farmers gardens,
which makes it even more important that farmers have the right
information. With more than 10 million Ugandan citizens using
mobile phones, over 5 million browsing the internet daily and
millions tuning into more than 200 FM radio stations broadcasting
in local languages, should we only focus on the co-operatives that
used to connect farmers and small businesses to markets in the
1970s and 1980s?
In Kenya, a study reported that 42% of the milk is sold directly
from farmers to consumers and usually delivered to their doorsteps.
Another 17% is sold to mobile traders on bicycles, and 15% to
small shops, kiosks or milk bars that are mostly unlicensed. In
comparison, registered dairy co-operatives purchase just 24% of
all dairy farmers milk. Similarly, only 2% of the milk produced
in Ethiopia reaches the market through the formal dairy chain.
The debate therefore needs to shift to understanding how the
majority of small-scale farmers are making markets work for them.
We need to strengthen these alternative ways if we are to support
the majority of small-scale farmers.
Without organisations?
For me it makes little sense to keep stressing the importance of
formal arrangements. Im not saying that we should do away with
them, but attention also needs to be given to the informal
arrangements that exist alongside them. Only a small percentage
of farmers belong to these organisations, despite their benefits.
Most development policies and programmes focus on farmers as
part of formal organisations, so these support mechanisms exclude
the majority. The problem is that the majority of non-organised
farmers are not willing, for one reason or the other, to go into
these formal arrangements. They have examined for themselves
the opportunities and constraints of joining a group and have also
analysed their own situation at home. They choose to do their
business in their own way, based on their own analysis of the
situation and the resources that they have available. In general,
the political will needs to be there to protect smallholders in markets
and support what farmers are already doing.
Do you only focus on local markets?

We work together with farmers in order to understand the different
market dynamics at a local, national and an East African level,
and then the farmers use their own analysis to make their own
choices. Their interest in working at these different levels depends
on their capacities and the degree to which they are organised.
Usually, it is only after they understand the dynamics of the local
and national markets that they get interested and willing to move
towards international value chains. It is also clear that many farmers
choose to stay at a local level.
Why do farmers prefer to sell at local markets?

In certain periods local markets give farmers better options. One
of the benefits is that they can get quick cash. Many financial
responsibilities, such as household needs or paying school fees,
cannot wait. For smallholder farmers to sell large quantities, they
often have to bulk their produce with other farmers sometimes for
a minimum period of one month, which delays payment. A coffee
farmer revealed to us that, in the three years that he has been a
member of his village producers group, he has never sold through
this group. He needs to pay his childrens school fees, and the
group has to wait to sell, especially if it is to international markets.
So he sells to traders who will give him cash. Also, the type of
product farmers grow determines the market they focus on. For
instance, bananas are very perishable and require a quick sale the
moment they are ripe, or you lose your product. With no
refrigeration or little infrastructure, perishable products cannot be
preserved for long. We need to see how much would farmers gain,
but also how much they can lose when bringing their banana from
their garden to the market, also including the costs of transport.
We advise the farmers on these costs and benefits, enabling them
to make the best decision for them.
Does it help to focus on regional markets?

In East Africa in general, as in many other places, there is a growing
demand for food products. Neighbouring countries buy a lot of
foodstuffs from Uganda. When farmers sell to traders from Kenya
or from South Sudan they receive a higher price, especially
compared to what the Ugandan middlemen pay. And in addition
to higher prices, these markets give farmers a guarantee. But the
biggest problem is the capacity and limited resources of
smallholders to access these international markets, even at a
regional level. International value chains are long and complex,
so we try to reduce the number of middle traders and let farmers
sell directly. Our objective is that they are able join the international
markets directly.
Can a certification process contribute?

A certification process can certainly play a role. But the most
important thing is that certification standards need to be
contextualised. I think that the standards set for the European
market cannot be the same standards that the East African farmers
should follow. There are already East African organic standards,
which makes the certification process a bit easier for smallholders.
19
Nonetheless, only a very small percentage of farmers in my country

can be certified. These farmers know that they can add value to
their product, but they are limited by their immediate financial
constraints. I think that the agricultural financing mechanisms need
to be strengthened first. A certification process can then help and
encourage farmers to produce in a certain way, for example,
organically. But then again, we have to consider that the majority
of Ugandan smallholders are already producing naturally, even
though they are not certified. They are not adding anything artificial
to their soils or crops. Their use of mulching comes from their
desire to maintain the soil, not because there is a need to produce
for a certified market.
Are farmers encouraged in other ways?

Looking at the market before one looks at the production process
is a very important contribution of the value chain approach, but
this perspective should not be limited to the international arena.
For instance, the majority of smallholder farmers in my country
produce without really knowing what the market wants. They just
push their produce into the local market when it is ready. When
we understand what the market wants, we can help develop farmers
capacities to meet these specific demands. When they produce for
a particular market, they must meet particular quality standards.
With the right information, they decide on their own if they want
to produce for this market.
Before, I was fixated on uniting small producers in organisations,

considering this as the only way for farmers to access better
markets. But the cases we studied with all other members of the
Knowledge Network helped me get a clearer picture. As I said, I
realised that we were leaving out a large majority of farmers
because they do not belong to an organisation. This is something
that we are internally reflecting on in my organisation. While the
value chain approach has its advantages, it is important to be critical,
and look at the constraints that are there, and the opportunities.
One of our main conclusions is that, by stimulating and
strengthening farmers economic agency, they are empowered
to make even better decisions.
For more information, visit the KRC website

(www.krcuganda.org) or write to Medius Bihunirwa directly.
E-mail: bmedius@krcug.org; bmedius20@gmail.com
If the local context is so important, why join an

international knowledge network?
Being part of it has widened my knowledge on how small producers
try to deal with markets in different contexts. I have seen how
Bolivian farmers use their kinship ties for marketing meat and
other products, realising that this is happening in my own country
as well with different products. I was impressed by the strength of
small producers organisations in Latin America, seeing that they
have been able to change national policies. These are all important
lessons which have helped me understand our situation better.
LEISA India
Also available in five Indian languages - Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Oriya
For details, visit www.leisaindia.org
20
Devpasli
A tribal farmers cooperative
Raghvendra Dubey, Arvind Patel,
A K Chourasia and Meena Gokhale
Marketing initiatives on collective action often bring
positive changes in farm incomes, by eliminating
middlemen. Devpasli mandli, a farmers cooperative, is one
such initiative which, besides improving incomes, brought
about immense impacts on the social lives of tribal
communities in Gujarat.
n India, where small and marginal farmers constitute around

80% of the total farming community, and tribal population is
predominant in certain geographical pockets, sustainable
growth cannot be achieved without inclusion of these groups. The
small and marginal farmers face many challenges as they operate
at miniscule level, are dependent on uncertain weather conditions,
and have poor access to information, new technology and financial
services. They are also exploited by the external agencies in market
while procuring inputs and marketing their produce. The tribal
communities are further deprived, who generally have no or poor
access to various schemes and subsidies designed and planned for
their growth.
Various government departments plan and execute projects in
partnership with NGOs that focus on bringing sustainable growth
for the disadvantaged sections. Formation and strengthening of
Community Based Organization (CBO) has become integral part
of such projects. Devpasli Mandli and the SHGs in the area is a
rare example where the planned efforts of projects are sustained

by active CBOs, and their members, especially belonging to tribal
communities.
Building the base

BAIF Development Research Foundation implemented the projectTransfer of Technology for Sustainable Development with an
objective of uplifting 33000 Below Poverty Line (BPL) families
in 6 states of India. The project supported by European Union was
implemented during 1996 to 2004.
Gujarat is one of the six states, where this project was implemented
in two clusters- Devgad in Surat district and Chaswad in Bharuch
district. The Devgad cluster consisted of 13 villages with undulating
and uneven land where only 33% land is irrigated. Only 10% of
families were able to grow enough food to feed themselves
adequately throughout the year. The entire population in this area
belonged to tribal communities - Chaudhary, Vasava, Gamit and
Kotwaliya.
The project adopted cluster development approach with sub
components as income generation and productivity enhancement
in the land based program, livestock development program and
rural non farm sector enterprises. This was supplemented with
community health, women empowerment and Manav Vikas Sangh
component, that addressed the issue of sustainability of the
21
development processes through Peoples Organizations. Fostering

of Peoples Organizations and gradual takeover of development
initiatives by them was a key strategy for ensuring sustainability.
By the end of the project, around 34,660 families had risen above
the poverty line and were food secure, green cover was established
on 23,207 hectares of degraded land and 1383 peoples
organisations were formed at various levels with womens
representation and active involvement of Panchayat Raj
Institutions.
Devpasli: Devgadh Vibhag Parivar Utthan Sahkari

Mandali
Devpasli Mandli, a cooperative was formed to ensure the
sustainability of development achieved during the project. It was
registered under the Gujarat State Cooperatives Act on 21st April
2005, with an objective of achieving economic and social
development of members in production, collection, transfer and
marketing of the produce, produced by the members effectively
and profitably.
All men and women beneficiaries of the TTSD project (5800)
became member shareholders of the cooperative. All the 5800
members are tribals and hail from 13 villages. At each village level
there is a Gram Vikas Samiti (GVS). These 13 GVS selected one
representative from each village, (2 from two large size villages),
making total 15 members as Board of directors of the cooperative.
These representatives are nominated by GVS and the selection is
generally by consensus. In case, any member is not active, or
unwilling to continue as Board of Director, then the GVS replaces
such member and selects another representative from the village
by consensus.
The Mandli has woven all its activities around the Agriculture
Service Center (ASC) located at Junavan, on Devgad Mandvi
Highway and easily accessible to all villages in surrounding areas.
Timely and assured supply of quality inputs, manures and fertilizers
and bio-pesticides close to village is a prerequisite of a farmer.
Understanding this core need, Mandli focused its activities on
providing this backward linkage through (ASC). In the initial phase,
Members
Self help Groups
Gram Vikas samiti
Traders
DevpasliMandli
Seed and fertiliser

producers and
suppliers
22
State government Line

departments
- Agriculture,
tribal welfare etc
Meena Ben Chunillal Devra is a 26 year old woman, having two children.
As per the tribal custom, she inherited 60 gunthas of land from her
father. She along with her husband has been cultivating the land, taking
only a single crop with low yields. Land was as hard as stone with no
access to irrigation. For the rest of the year, there was no work. They
had very little to eat and many times survived on tuber roots. Their
staple diet was Bhadku (rice porridge cooked in water).
With BAIFs project, Meena and Chunilal, attended a number of
trainings and learnt improved agriculture practices, vegetable
cultivation, vermicompost preparation etc. Meena is a member of SHGNav Durga Bachat Gat, in her village. She attends meetings regularly
and has taken a loan of Rs 10,000 from SHG and built a new house at
farm and repaid the entire amount. She and her husband are members
of Devpasli cooperative. They purchase certified seeds, fertilizers and
pesticides, from Devpasli Cooperative and saved around Rs.2000 on
purchase of inputs. She is happy that by purchasing through the
cooperative, she is able to get quality inputs in time
Today, they practice all that they have learned and take three crops
per year. The group well provided critical irrigation. She has a small
kitchen garden where she cultivates green vegetables for family
consumption. Today, her family diet consists of rice, dal, rotis and
vegetables a complete meal. The grain yield has increased 10 times
and vegetable and milk production at a much higher rate. Last year,
Meena s family earned around Rs 50,000 from selling farm harvest.
They have also stored grains that would last for one year in their house.
The increased income and food security has made them a secured
and happy family.
Mandli obtained all necessary licenses for seed and fertilizers and
has developed a good network with private and Government
certified seed and fertilizers manufacturers. Before the sowing
season, the Board of Directors who are representing each village
with support from SHG in village, prepare a village level list of
the type and quantity of seeds and fertilizers required. Accordingly,
the order is placed to renowned manufacturers and material is
procured. Once it is procured, the message is spread through SHG
and villagers throng for their purchases. This ASC also doubles
up as an outlet for products by SHG groups. The SHG groups are
engaged in seasonal activities like grinding and selling red chilli
powder, turmeric powder, papads that are sold through this ASC.
The key factors that have led to the success of this activity are
well established communication channels between SHG and Board
of Directors that assess correct demand. Mandli procures and sells
only certified and good quality products. This ensures that almost
all the material is sold. As a result, the suppliers and manufacturers
provide input material on credit and hence the requirement of
working capital is limited.
Financial stability
For the Mandli, it was a dual challenge firstly, to sustain itself as
an entity and sustaining the growth of members. In the last seven
years, Mandli has made substantial progress on both fronts. Today,
it has built up its own funds that give a stable platform to take up
challenging tasks.
In the first three years, the Mandli invested in learning the rules of
the game and the fourth year was a take off point where the turnover
has increased substantially. The total sales has grown steadily from
7 lakh rupees in first year to 91 lakh rupees in sixth year. Although
the total sale has increased, the profit margins were kept constant
providing more benefits to its members, rather than making profits.
For the first seven years, Mandli did not distribute its profit to
members, but invested it into various funds. This has given
financial stability to the Mandli to face any emergency situation.
Mandli is planning to distribute profits to its members in the eight
year. This is a remarkable turning point for the Mandli as well as
member shareholders.
Building linkages
Various government departments, particularly, agriculture
department offers different schemes for tribal farmers. These
schemes are channelized through the Mandli. Mandli gets 5% as
commission for its administrative expenses. This support is
currently availed for groundnut, soyabean, wheat and paddy crops.
On similar lines, Mandli has linked with other seed and fertilizer
companies, who not only provide their supplies on credit to the
Mandli but also conduct extension and training programs for the
members of Mandli to guide in the use of inputs provided. Thus,
Mandli has become a critical link between many institutions in
the area and its members.
Innovative activities
Mandli also experimented with various seasonal and perennial
business activities. Many SHG groups have mastered the skill of
producing vermicompost on a large scale. In the initial years,
Mandli provided a platform for selling this organic manure.
Presently, this is entirely transferred to SHG and they directly sell
to the consumers.
Collective marketing is a major need of farmers. In the third, fifth
and sixth year, Mandli marketed soyabean, black gram, groundnut
and vegetables in Surat market. In the sixth year, it also managed
to set up a vegetable stall in Surat City during the season. However,
this activity could not be continued as Mandli did not have its
own travel facility and total cost on transportation was very high.
In the seventh year, the traders approached for procuring vegetables
at the doorstep of the Mandli. Presently, member farmers gather
at village market and directly sell their vegetables and other
produce to traders. All these experiences are encouraging and as
the Mandli has reached a stage of stability, it proposes to enter
into collective marketing on a large scale in the coming years.
This will be one major milestone for the mandli as well as its
members.
The impact of forming a cooperative is most

visible among the tribal women. A number of
women are now capable of handling money,
promoting and engaging in the activities of the
cooperative as well as village development.
Impacts
The productivity enhancement of agriculture yield leading to food
security in the area is yet another impact achieved by this process.
Before the launch of the project, this community was surviving on
tubers. Today, every family has a stock of grains that would last
for at least one year. Through the vegetable market at Jankhau,
availability of vegetables for villagers residing in surrounding
villages has increased. This has not only ensured food security but
added the component of nutritional supplement in the daily diet of
villagers, even in villages beyond the project area.
The economic growth of the area is apparent through 3-4 tractors
per village. At member shareholder level, on an average, each
member derives a minimum benefit of Rs 5000 to 6000 per season.
This amount may appear small but it is very crucial for a small
farmer. But the most crucial part is that this benefit is availed by
more than 4500 members and in many cases for more than 2 seasons
per year. The increased income and saving habits have led to
introduction of mobile bank, an innovative project, introduced for
the first time in the area.
Along with the financial benefit, the social impact on the entire
tribal community has been much more remarkable. The tribal
community that had no previous culture of working as an organized
group is playing active role in a network of institutions. The impact
is most visible among the tribal women. At each village level,
there are a number of women who are now capable of handling
money, promoting activities of SHG and cooperative, engaged in
income generating activities as well as village development
activities.
Looking into the future

Mandli has played a crucial role in sustaining the growth process
beyond the project, mainstreaming the tribal community in the
development process and transforming the tribals from being a
project beneficiary to a partner in the growth process. But, Devpasli,
as a cooperative, has still a long way to go. Mandli wishes to
enhance its business growth through collective marketing,
diversification and by serving new clients. And it plans to take up
this new challenge in the coming year.
Raghvendra Dubey, Arvind Patel and A K Chourasia

(BAIF-GRISERV Office 3rd Floor Indra Complex Manjalpur,
Vadodara, Gujarat 39004)
E-mail: raghvendra124@gmail.com
Meena Gokhale
BAIF Development Research Foundation,
BAIF Bhavan, National Highway no.4,
Warje, Pune-411 058
23
Participatory Guarantee Systems

Making organic certification more accessible for
small scale farmers
Flavia Castro and Cornelia Kirchner
Many farmers organizations all around the world and in
India contribute to the establishment and promotion of
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). Particularly
appropriate for small-scale farming, PGS have proven to
be a practical alternative to third-party certification and an
effective way to develop local markets for organically
produced food.
rganic is now one of the fastest growing sectors in the

world and its success opens many social and economic
opportunities for people around the world, especially for
those in need for food security and ways out of poverty. Organic
certification is an important tool for the growth of the sector. It
facilitates recognition and provides consumers with assurance
about the organic quality of the products. With Governments
playing a key role in developing national regulations for organic
production, certification is also very often a synonym of access to
the market. Currently, the most commonly accepted guarantee
system is third-party certification, where an external auditor is
responsible for verifying that the producer is in compliance with a
certain set of rules (standard) for organic production.
But obtaining third-party certification is a challenge for many
organic producers. This is especially true for small-scale farmers
in developing countries. One of the reasons is that the cost of
organic certification is high in relation to their production. Farmers
get overwhelmed by the paperwork and the complexity of the
standards and regulations they are asked to fulfill. Moreover,
farmers are subject to a set of rules imposed from outside, which
might not make room for local specificities. As a result, certified
organic products tend to be expensive, not affordable for the local
population. Such products will then be sold only to higher income
consumers, mostly in cities, or shipped to foreign markets.
24
Organic certification is necessary for the

growth of organic but small farmers
are often left out.
PGS an alternative to third party certification

PGS is a way to assure the quality of the products that is
substantially different from third-party certification systems, while
equally reliable. PGS is based on the participation of various
stakeholders in the certification process. Ideally producers,
consumers, NGOs, scientists and other key actors in the organic
sector share the responsibility during regular peer-reviews and for
certification decisions, and are also included in the choice and
definition of the standards. The system allows for the necessary
flexibility. The development of the certification procedures is taken
on by the stakeholders themselves. Most of the work is done
voluntarily, which means that the actual cost for certification is
very low. The involvement and cooperation of a large number of
people creates possibilities for knowledge sharing and transfer.
This often results in an increased know-how and an improvement
in the techniques of the farmers. Producers have ownership as the
decisions are redirected back to those who are directly involved in
the process. Finally, Participatory Guarantee Systems strengthen
local markets and local communities and enhance awareness of
organic agriculture in the region. Especially in developing organic
markets, the PGS approach has proved very successful in building
up local networks of production and consumption.
PGS in India: a system adapted to the local reality

India is among the most advanced countries with regard to PGS
development and awareness. Even though the legal framework for
organic farming does not officially recognize PGS, the voluntary
legal framework for the domestic market allows for organic claims
without certification or with PGS. In fact, there are two alternative
guarantee systems running in parallel: one led by the Participatory
Guarantee Systems Organic Council (PGSOC), promoted by a
coalition of NGOs; and a governmental one, referred to as PGS
India. Altogether, over 5000 farmers have obtained organic
guarantee for their products through PGS in the country.
The development of PGS in India started in 2006, when the FAO
and the National Centre of Organic Farming NCOF, a body under
the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation of the Ministry of
Agriculture, facilitated a workshop in Goa, where fourteen NGOs
participated. After the workshop, the organizations formed an
informal and voluntary coalition. This coalition launched PGS pilot
programs in various parts of the country and worked to develop
standards, pledges and certification procedures appropriate to the

local context. A PGS network was established and in April 2011,
the PGSOC was formally registered as a society in Goa. Eleven
organizations are now spread across the country and perform as
PGSOC Facilitation Councils. These are: Institute for Integrated
Rural Development (IIRD), Organic Farming Association of India
(OFAI), Keystone Foundation, Deccan Development Society
(DDS), Chetana Vikas, Covenant Centre for Development (CCD),
Timbaktu Collective, Pan Himalayan Grassroots Development
Foundation (PHGDF), Maharashtra Organic Farmers Federation
(MOFF), Green Foundation and Botanical Society of Goa.
On the Government side,PGS India was launched as a scheme
in the framework of the National Project on Organic Farming.
The launch was announced on 07.04.2011 and the system described
as a low-cost alternative certification system Participatory
Guarantee System (PGS). According to the NCOF, PGS
empowers farmers in the group to follow all standard requirements
of organic, have surveillance on each other and declare themselves
as organic. The monitoring and coordination under PGS India
is carried out by Regional Councils, which are also responsible
for endorsing the decisions of the groups at a local level. The
transparency of the system is planned to be enhanced by using
Internet tools and making relevant data publicly accessible. So
far, operational guidelines are accessible and a National Advisory
Committee NAC has been formed.
carrying the organic brand Last Forest Natural Products are

distributed all over the country and will soon be available also
online.
Just like Keystone, other organizations that are now part of the
PGSOC, support small farmers in obtaining market access,
increased income, better livelihoods, and above all access to
relevant information and technical support. Lack of knowledge
about organic standards or about organic solutions for a production
issue is usually the reason why a farmer might fall into noncompliances with the organic standard. The peer review and the
continuous exchange of information is creating benefits for the
producers themselves, while also contributing to the process that
builds trust among all involved, including consumers.
PGS, an inclusive solution

There has been in India a substantial rise in the awareness of the
harmful effects of toxic chemicals used in agriculture, as well as
an increase in the demand for food that is produced in a sustainable
way. For the domestic organic market to grow, while guaranteeing
consumers that what they buy is really organic, a reliable but
inexpensive verification system is necessary. PGS is an inclusive
solution for domestic markets and short chains. Therefore, they
are complementary to (not competing with) third-party
certification, which has an important role in ensuring organic
quality in the impersonal global market for organic produce.
Farmer organizations often play a key role in the establishment of

PGS initiatives, because they can build on their existing networks
to bring people together and encourage their participation. India is
a particularly good example, where several farmer organizations
and NGOs cooperated to create PGS that is well-adapted to the
conditions in the country. One of the main concerns has been to
provide all the materials about the system in as many local
languages as possible, to ensure maximum access to small farmers.
PGS literature is now available in eight of the more commonly
used languages and other translations are being prepared.
Third party certification is an important tool, but it is not suitable

for all organic operators and stakeholders. Only a diversification
in organic guarantee systems can provide satisfying opportunities
for a wide range of farmers and consumers, in different contexts
around the world. For a large country as India, recognizing local
specificities and needs is especially relevant. By creating an
enabling environment for PGS initiatives to develop and prosper,
India plays a key role in the development of the organic sector as
a whole and sets an example to be followed.
Farmers pledges are well adapted to the local traditions in each

one of the regions where PGS are operational; in fact they are
administered according to the locally prevalent socio-religious
practices. In a deeply religious country like India this contributes
to strengthening the farmers commitment to principles and
standards of organic agriculture, in a way that is likely to be more
efficient than an external, bureaucratic license system.
Flavia Castro
E-mail: f.castro@ifoam.org
Cornelia Kirchner
E-mail: c.kirchner@ifoam.org
PGS benefits small farmers

The PGS of Keystone Foundation a NGO based in the southern
state of Tamil Nadu, in Kotagiri, Nilgris generates 60% of its
sales turnover within the district. It was set up to provide market
support to indigenous communities and forest dwellers, specially
honey hunters, from the Nilgris. The activities related to organic
market development started in 1995. Back then, one of the main
challenges was to raise awareness among consumers on the high
quality of tribal products. A participatory system that could provide
organic and eco-friendliness guarantee was developed throughout
the years, based on the local needs and specificities. Today, products
References
IFOAM, Participatory Guarantee Systems - 4 Case Studies,
2005
PGSOC (Participatory Guarantee Systems Organic Council),
History of PGS in India. http://www.pgsorganic.in/history-ofpgs-in-india
Khosla, Ron, Participatory Organic Guarantee System
for India, Final Report October 2006.
25
Forest Roots Network

Strengthening links between producers
and consumers
Knowledge sharing at Jesus Farm

Family farmers in the Zona da Mata region found that the
model of Green Revolution with a prescribed integration
with the international markets, did not bring the promised
benefits. Many different efforts have led to viable
alternatives that benefit both producers and consumers.
One of these is the Rede Razes da Mata or Forest Roots
Network.
s part of the democratisation process in Brazil at the end

of the 1980s, many protests and movements were
organised around the problems that existed in the rural
areas, promoting the rights of small-scale farmers and seeking
alternatives to the mainstream production model. In the Zona da
Mata, many of these efforts were driven by the farmers themselves,
founding various farmers unions (Sindicatos de Trabalhadores
Rurais) and other rural organisations. They worked together with
a group of students and lecturers from the Universidade Federal
de Viosa (UFV), and also with technicians and extension agents
sensitive to the environmental and social degradation in the region,
to create an NGO to promote an alternative ecological approach.
This was named CTA-ZM, or the Centre for Alternative
Technologies in Zona da Mata.
26
Twenty-five years later, a visitor to the region can see many positive
results, ranging from the ecological management of soils to the
emergence of a strong organisation of women farmers. Throughout
this period, the region has seen a drastic change in agricultural

production and the way that farmers reach consumers with their
products, which now include not only coffee but also dairy
products, honey, vegetables, fruits, grains, amongst others. A study
conducted by CTA in 2009 identified several marketing possibilities
in Zona da Mata, including street markets, farmers associations
and co-operative sales points, door-to-door selling and the interest
of different government agencies for locally-sourced products.
However, the commercialisation of agro-ecological products
remained, and still remains, a great challenge. A lot of products
are seasonal, and increasing the total output is difficult, as most
farmers grow many different products simultaneously and
experience limitations in terms of land and labour. The existence
of sanitary regulations which do not match the reality that family
farmers face is also a big obstacle. The study mentioned that many
of the difficulties faced by farmers could be reduced through an
educational process based on the exchange of experiences and
knowledge, developing farmers capacities to enhance already
existing initiatives and raising their awareness on mechanisms for
achieving certain required market standards. The recommended
strategies also included enhancing the value of products through,
for example, the use of specific labels and logos and better
packaging.
Rede Razes da Mata

After many small-scale attempts, the accumulated lessons learned
led to the foundation of the Rede Razes da Mata (or the Forest
Roots Network) in 2011 in a joint effort between producers,
The main goal of the network is to improve the

commercialisation of local agro-ecological
produce by establishing stronger links between
producers and consumers.
consumers, the university and CTA. The main goal of the network
is to improve the commercialisation of local agro-ecological
produce by establishing stronger links between producers and
consumers. During the past two years it has worked on a cooperative basis, with farmers playing an active role in deciding
what products will be provided, and determining the quantities
and prices for each product. Consumers help to run the network as
volunteers and active supporters, gaining both access to healthy,
local and diverse food, and the opportunity to share their comments
and suggestions.
Work is organised on a weekly basis and facilitated by a team of
students from the university. A spreadsheet is made after consulting
the farmers about the availability of products: every Monday, a
new spreadsheet with the weeks offers is sent to all registered
customers. They have until Wednesday to return their order by email. All the producers are contacted every Wednesday with the
order for their produce, specifying the amount to be delivered.
Friday is the delivery day, when the producers bring their products
before 3 p.m. to the networks office, which is located inside the
university campus (in a space where workshops, debates and
several other activities also take place). Here all the produce is put
together as individual packages for the customers by 6:30 p.m.,
when the office is open for people to collect their orders.
There are over three hundred consumers registered in the network
today, most of whom pick up a personal package every week. The
list from which they can choose currently contains more than two
hundred products, including fruits and vegetables as well as fresh
teas, coffee, beans, corn flour, artisanal breads and even natural
cosmetics. This diverse range of products changes seasonally. The
supply of products comes from seven individual farmers and nine
different groups of family farmers in the region, including
associations, co-operatives and production groups.
One of many efforts

While family farmers are working to improve access to markets,
they are also benefitting from an increasing demand from an urban
population interested in consuming healthier, good quality, food that
is not contaminated by pesticides and is free from GMOs. The Forest
Roots Network is a small initiative that is very modest in terms of
coverage when compared to most agri-businesses, but it is not the
only one. Members of the network see themselves as a
complementary tool. As Edilei Cirilo da Silva, a farmer and
member, says, the network is an alternative that is helping to
overcome the difficulty that farmers have in accessing the market.
Of course, its not the only solution, but this kind of initiative can
reach large numbers and play an important role to encourage and
support farmers to produce for the market but also to feed themselves!
The role of the network is also to strengthen the dialogue within
society about the problems caused by modern agriculture. We need
to work together with others and reach a wide variety of audiences,

including workers, employees and civil servants, in order to break
the myth that our products, because they are organic, are much more
expensive than conventional ones.
Such efforts are benefitting from innovative governmental policies.
A good example is the PAA programme, established in 2003 by
the national government to promote food security and strengthen
family farming through the acquisition and distribution of food
products. Family farmers can sell their products directly to the
government for a fair price without going through a difficult and
bureaucratic process. Some of the products are donated to public
organisations such as popular restaurants, or to food banks from
where they are distributed to vulnerable social groups. The other
part is acquired by family farmers organisations in other regions.
Another interesting measure was taken in 2009, with changes made
to the implementation of the National Programme for School
Nutrition. This has been running since 1955, supporting students
enrolled in the public basic educational system. The law passed in
2009 stipulated that at least 30% of the programmes resources
(990 million reais, or 370 million euros, in 2012) must be used for
purchasing products from family farmers.
A win-win model
The Forest Roots Network serves as a bridge between local
production and consumption, and strengthens the links between
farmers and consumers. Through the network, farmers are able to
sell small quantities of many different products for a fair price.
This turns their production on small plots of land into a viable and
profitable enterprise, resulting in higher biodiversity levels.
Although small, the Forest Roots Network represents a significant
movement towards reorganising the agri-food systems, helping to
reshape social relations and creating new market structures. The
initiative contributes to raising consumer awareness about agroecology and local food, and has already inspired the creation of
new consumer networks in two other municipalities in the region.
Nina Abigail Caligiorne Cruz, Fabricio Vassalli Zanelli and

Heitor Mancini Teixeira are students and graduates of the
Universidade Federal de Viosa.
Irene Maria Cardoso works as lecturer at the same university.
E-mail: heitorteixeira_5@hotmail.com
References
Cardoso, I. M. and E. A. Ferrari, Construindo o conhecimento
agroecolgico: trajetria de interao entre ONG,
universidade e organizaes de agricultores. Revista
Agriculturas, v. 3-4, 2006.
Grisa, C.; C.J. Schmitt, L. Mattei, R. Maluf and S. Leite,
Contribuies do Programa de Aquisio de Alimentos
segurana alimentar e nutricional e criao de mercados
para a agricultura familiar. Revista Agriculturas, v. 8-3, 2011
27
Return of the Desi Rice

Seema G Prasad
Sahaja Samrudha, an organic farmers collective began a
decade ago as a farmer initiated group to exchange ideas,
seeds and knowledge on sustainable agriculture. From its
modest beginning, it has grown today into a vibrant
organization spearheading a thriving movement for the
regeneration of Indian agriculture system through the
revival of indigenous seeds.
28
t was a hectic day, after two consecutive days of talking

continuously during the rice mela, our voices were strained
and none of us had any energy left to speak. By the second day
the different varieties of rice, sold by farmers themselves, were
out of stock. The mela had one more day to go. Many buyers were
returning very disappointed, with empty bags, without getting even
a kilogram of rice, curiously looking at the nearly 100 varieties of
rice on display, the rice information posters, leaflets and talking
with farmers.
Visitors at a Rice mela
Organic is life
Sahaja Samrudha an organic farmers collective has been
organising melas to help spread awareness on traditional rice
varieties and create a platform for sharing seeds and knowledge
on sustainable agriculture. Consisting of small and marginal
farmers, women groups and seed savers, the collective started a
decade ago. The organization has a certified group of 750 farmers
and 15 farmers groups, primarily engaged in the promotion of
organic farming. Along with our work in organic agriculture, we
became involved with conservation of rice through the Save Our
Rice Campaign, a pan-Asian peoples movement, with the objective
to protect traditional rice cultures and knowledge across Asia.
Sahaja Samrudha leads the movement in Karnataka to revive
traditional rice heritage through the on-farm conservation of rice
diversity, participatory crop improvement, and the popularization
of organic rice.
Save Our Rice

Organic rice cultivation is gaining momentum in Karnataka. Many
farmers have discovered that organic farming is a viable alternative
Sahaja Organics - A farmer owned company

Sahaja Samrudha has developed a network of consumers and
producers for procurement and marketing of organic food under the
brand name Sahaja Organics. Sahaja Samrudha Organic
Producers Company Ltd was formed to market organic produce.
The producer company is facilitating the direct procurement of
produce from the farmer and supplying it to the outlets in the network.
This chain has been created for the produce to reach the consumer
directly and to provide a good price to the farmers.
Sahaja Organics markets a wide range of products thirty different
varieties of rice, fifteen varieties of different millets, wheat, pulses,
fruits and vegetables, baby foods, processed foods like pappads,
health drink, multi grain flour, value-added products and ready to
eat foods. Sahaja promotes only organic and traditional crops of
rice, millets and pulses. These crops are in great demand in the
urban areas due to their nutritional value and medicinal value,
especially the millets and red rice.
Presently the company has 786 organic producers from different
parts of the state and over 2000 farmers in organic conversion
status. It is supplying wide range of organic produce to 26 outlets,
in major cities of south India, on a regular basis.
A major success factor of this bio-enterprise is a result of the civil
society partnership that has been created. Farmers groups, womens
groups and consumer groups are working together in a like-minded
organisation to revive the dying farming culture and community in
South India.
to conventional farming. Many of these rare varieties are still being

cultivated in remote villages for their excellent taste, special
characteristics, performance (drought resistance, disease resistance,
salt-tolerance), health benefits and cooking qualities. Among the
medicinal rice varieties, Karibattha, Kalame, Karikalave,
Doddabaira nellu, Kari gajivili and Sannakki are some of the
prominent ones.
However, marketing traditional varieties of rice has remained a
challenge, especially in the urban centers as it is not a preferred
choice by urban consumers owing to the size and colour of the
grain. Farmers were also reluctant to grow the traditional varieties
without an assured market.
Desi varieties of rice
On an average, around 4000-5000 consumers

visit and around three-four lakh rupees worth
of traditional rice varieties are sold
during each Mela.
So we began the task of marketing different varieties of rice. We
gathered indigenous knowledge associated with these traditional
rice varieties and lab tested for their nutritional content. The reports
established that these varieties have greater nutritional content and
properties beneficial to health compared to popular polished rice
varieties available in the market. We gave a wide coverage on
these results through our posters, leaflets, and articles. The media
coverage and melas helped spread this information and it has
influenced many people to move to traditional rice.
Rice Melas act as harbingers of change!

Rice melas were organized in different regions to create awareness
among consumers about the health benefits of consuming these
forgotten treasures and also a glimpse of their unique and unusual
flavor. We held a series of melas in Bangalore and other cities
with different themes like Organic mela, Desi rice mela, Red rice
mela, Biodiversity mela and Safe food mela. Delicious recipes
were prepared using these rice varieties; they were attractively
displayed and were offered for tasting during melas. Through these
the healthy, nutritive and forgotten food grains were reintroduced
into the market.
On an average, each mela attracted around 4000-5000 consumers.
Around three-four lakh rupees worth of traditional rice varieties
were sold during each Mela. In 2012, annual sale of traditional
rice varieties crossed 100 tonnes.
The media also played a major role in creating massive awareness
and by giving coverage to the Melas and the products. Various
newspapers and magazines carried special stories on red rice and
the health benefits of organic rice. We collected visitor data to
continue our outreach with them later.
Together with 30 other organizations including consumer and
farmer groups, Sahaja Samrudha has built a movement that today
includes more than 2000 rice-conservers, farmer-breeders across
the country, and is associated with conserving more than 600
varieties of scented, medicinal, deepwater, saline-tolerant and dry
land rice. However, this is only a beginning. Our aim is to draw
many more people into the fold of healthy eating through
popularizing organic food and indigenous grains. World over there
is a shift towards traditional grains and foods and we will work
towards bring that change in our state.
Seema G Prasad
State Coordinator,
Save Our Rice Campaign- Karnataka,
No7, 2 cross, 7th Main, Sulthan playa,
Bangalore 560 032
E-mail: seemaprasadg@gmail.com
29
The Narayana Reddy Column
Its time to look for local

alternatives
ver since the barter system of exchanging crop yields for

various services disappeared and the weekly local markets,
where farmers were selling their products directly to the
consumers, have declined, exploitation of both the farmers and
the consumers has become common. Now corporate houses and
multinational companies in the name of departmental stores and
malls are taking away even retail sale of vegetables, fruits and
agricultural products at a throw away price. With a huge capacity
to hoard in godowns, these companies create an artificial scarcity
in the markets, making huge profits. This is made possible owing
to two reasons - the first being the non availability of storage
facility for a large number of farmers and second being the
immediate need for money by the farmers to meet various needs.
After 40 years of my various trials to come out of the marketing
problems, now I have found a very easy and profitable way of
marketing my vegetables and fruits directly to 25 families. I have
150 banana, 100 guava, 100 Avocado (Butter fruit), 50 coconut,
120 mango (5 variety), 50 papaya, 10 jackfruit, 20 Chikoo (Sapota)
fruit trees enabling me to supply 5 varieties of fruits, all round the
year. I also grow 5 to 7 different vegetables and 5 to 6 greens
throughout the year. I invited 25 families to our garden and showed
them our cultivation methods of not using any synthetic fertilizers
or plant protection poisons. They are happy to get our vegetables
2 times a week i.e. every Friday and Monday at their house packed
in 2 and 1 kg packets at an agreed cost for future 6 months. In the
mean time, they along with their family members spend 6 7
hours in a month, helping us in various farm activities like planting,
weeding and harvest. They also get a little discount or a gift for
their work. These visits make them understand the hard work
required on the farm and better understanding about the quality of
their vegetables and fruits they purchase. All of them reside at a
distance of 17 kms from our farm. We save lot of time and energy
in supplying our products at their place.
30
Another example I want to mention is of a silent revolution that is

happening in Assam. Mr. Tenying Bodos, a young man aged only
27 years had visited me in April- 2013, when he was in Bangalore
to attend a seminar organized by Organic Farmers Association of
India. During his 3 day stay at our farm, I was surprised about his
achievements and agriculture knowledge and decided to visit his
farm and his groups collective work. Mr. Tanying Bodos, born as
a very poor boy, was forced to discontinue his schooling and
reached Chennai by train without a train ticket. He worked for a
road building company for 6 months without any salary. In 2 years,
he learnt operating 12 different road building equipments. He saved
4 lakh rupees in 13 years working in the same company. Since last

3 years, he is growing tea on 3 acres. In the beginning, he was
selling green raw tea leaf @ Rs.20/ Kg every 5 6 days. Then he
developed contact with Fertile Ground an NGO at Canada and
made an agreement to sell home processed green tea @ Rs.1000.
Now 8 small farmers have formed a producers society and have
erected a small green tea processing unit and with their own brand
name and directly exporting to Canada and the NGO Fertile
Ground is marketing it very efficiently. Now after watching this
procedure most of the small tea growers are willing to start similar
producer societies to get a fair price for their produce.
Infact, many of the corporate companies are frightened of such
emerging producer societies. Giant multinational and Indian
corporate companies have been making huge profits by purchasing
raw green tea @ Rs. 20/kg and processing 5 kgs of this green tea
leaf they get one kg ready to use tea dust. By selling this tea dust
@ Rs. 300/kg they are able to make profits even in the Indian
market. They are also attempting to grow tea on their own farms.
But the cost of growing 1 kg raw green tea costs them Rs. 7 as the
input costs are growing every year. It was easy for them to buy
raw green tea from small growers than growing on their huge tea
plantations measuring up to 3000 acres or even more.
Growing any crop is more economical and eco friendly for small
and family farms. It is important that everybody understands the
importance of small family farms than huge industrial type of
agriculture production. Family farms are also important in checking
rural migration. Its time that our policy makers learn lessons from
Scandinavian countries about the tragedy of large farms.
Shri Narayana Reddy is a legendary organic farmer and is one

of the most sought after resource persons on ecological
agriculture.
L Narayana Reddy
Srinivasapura, Near Marelanahalli,
Hanabe Post-561 203, Doddaballapur Taluk,
Bangalore Rural District, Karnataka, India.
Mobile: 9620588974
NEW BOOKS
Community Biodiversity Management
Promoting resilience and the conservation of plant genetic resources
Walter Simon de Boef, Abishkar Subedi, Nivaldo Peroni, Marja Thijssen, Elizabeth
OKeeffe (Eds), March 2013, Routledge, 422 p., 39.99, 978-0-415-50220-7
The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are issues that have been high on the
policy agenda since the first Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. As part of efforts to implement
in situ conservation, a methodology referred to as community biodiversity management
(CBM) has been developed by those engaged in this arena. CBM contributes to the
empowerment of farming communities to manage their biological resources and make
informed decisions on the conservation and use of agrobiodiversity.
This book is the first to set out a clear overview of CBM as a methodology for meeting
socio-environmental changes. CBM is shown to be a key strategy that promotes community
resilience, and contributes to the conservation of plant genetic resources. The authors present
the underlying concepts and theories of CBM as well as its methodology and practices,
and introduce case studies primarily from Brazil, Ethiopia, France, India, and Nepal.
Contributors include farmers, leaders of farmers organizations, professionals from
conservation and development organizations, students and scientists.
The book offers inspiration to all those involved in the conservation and use of
agrobiodiversity within livelihood development and presents ideas for the implementation
of farmers rights. The wide collection of experiences illustrates the efforts made by
communities throughout the world to cope with change while using diversity and engaging
in learning processes. It links these grassroots efforts with debates in policy arenas as a
means to respond to the unpredictable changes, such as climate change, that communities
face in sustaining their livelihoods.
Greening Global Value Chains: Implementation Challenges

Bernard Sinclair Desgagn, 2013, OECD Green Growth Papers, 2013-04, OECD
Publishing, Paris
The objective of this paper is to highlight some of the most important implementation
issues associated with the greening of global value chains (GVCs). Special attention is
given to how public policies and business strategies can support each other in meeting the
challenge, particularly in developing countries. The first part calls for holding a systemic
view of GVCs. This view should include downstream supply chains and take explicit
account of the relationships between regular members (raw materials providers, component
manufacturers and assembly plants, notably) and their clean - tech suppliers. It also involves
a careful description of GVCs business landscapes: their respective industry structures
and competitive settings, the available financial and business services, surrounding NGOs
and communities, national governments respective energy, trade, industrial and
environmental policies, and the relevant local and global infrastructures (i.e., institutions,
cultures, transportation, communication means, etc.). It finally requires reliable
environmental metrics and data, and must examine how these can be shared among GVC
members and their stakeholders.
The second part focuses on the incentives that should be set within member firms and
throughout the supply chain. This involves reviewing managerial practices monitoring
and auditing of environmental performance, compensation and rewards, transfer prices,
task design and allocation, decision making processes, employee selection and training,
and organizational culture and framing outsourcing contracts appropriately. To be effective,
however, these initiatives need to be encouraged by credible national policies (which include
environmental but also social policies targeting informal businesses) and international
agreements, revealing disclosure programs and a vigilant civil society. The third part finally
considers the global coordination of business and public policies, as the greening of a
GVC will certainly work best if its members and stakeholders move in tandem.
31
Challenging chains to change

Gender equity in agricultural value chain development
Anna Laven, 2012, 348 pages, Euro 25, ISBN 9789460222122
Very often, efforts to improve value chains miss out half of the population the female
half. It is men who sell the products and who keep the money from those sales. The women,
who do much of the work but are not recognized for it, often have to work even harder to
meet ever-increasing quality requirements. But they see few of the benefits.
How to change this? This book explains how development organizations and private
entrepreneurs have found ways to improve the position of women in value chains
especially small-scale women farmers and primary processors. It outlines five broad
strategies for doing this: (1) working with women on typical womens products such as
shea, poultry and dairy, (2) opening up opportunities for women to work on what are
traditionally mens commodities or in mens domains, (3) supporting women and men
in organizing for change by building capacity, organization, sensitization and access to
finance, (4) using standards and certification to promote gender equity, and (5) promoting
gender-responsible business.
The book draws on dozens of cases from all over the world, covering a wide range of crops
and livestock products. These include traditional subsistence products (such as rice), smallscale cash items (honey, vegetables) as well as export commodities (artichokes, coffee)
and biofuels (jatropha). The book includes a range of tools and methodologies for analysing
and developing value chains with gender in mind.
By bringing together the two fields of gender and value chains, this book offers a set of
compelling arguments for addressing gender in value chain development. It proposes an
analytical framework that builds on both fields. It outlines five strategies for development
organizations and enterprises to ensure that women can participate in value chains as full
partners and decision-makers. The overall result is to improve value chain performance,
with both women and men able to enjoy the benefits.
Call for Articles

Strengthening family farming
Vol. 15 No. 4, December 2013
The United Nations declared 2014 as the International Year of Family
Farming. This is a very important recognition of the multiple social,
economic, environmental and cultural functions of family farming. For
example, family farmers produce more than 50% of the worlds food,
and are important guardians of biodiversity.
and increase their yields. They organise themselves and make their
voices heard. They build their own educational spaces where they
learn from each other and teach others. Women play a key role in
these strategies, which are often carried out in close collaboration with
local decision makers, researchers, and consumer platforms.
Creating the conditions for family farming to thrive is essential for a

sustainable future. The threats to family farming are multidimensional.
Climate change, land grabbing, land degradation, the aggressive
promotion of industrial farming and dependence on large agribusiness
chains are some of the most pressing challenges. But family farmers
have proven to be innovative and resilient under the right socio-political
framework and conditions especially when supported by public and
institutional policies.
For the December 2013 issue, LEISA India is looking for the most
groundbreaking experiences and visionary ideas on how to strengthen
family farming. What are family farmers and their organisations doing
to advocate for and enhance their rights and livelihoods? How are
governments incorporating agro-ecology into their public policies? What
other support mechanisms are needed to promote sustainable family
farming? How can agro-ecological family farming become an attractive
proposition for future generations? What can we learn from existing
and emerging practices?
Family farmers exert a large degree of autonomy. They do this through

the use of agro-ecological practices and the creation of new markets
that are suitable to their context. They pool their labour and resources,
Please send us your contributions. Articles for the December issue

of LEISA India should be sent to the Editor, before 1st October, 2013.
E-mail: leisaindia@yahoo.co.in
32
SOURCES
Inclusive Value Chains - A Pathway Out of Poverty
Malcolm Harper, 2010, 312 p., USD 58.00, ISBN: 978-981-4293-89-1
Modern integrated value chains need not necessarily exclude the smallest producers as
this book aims to explain in detail by case studies. The issue is particularly topical in India,
where modern retailing has come to the scene only recently and the majority of whose
population are still small farmers and artisans. Following a brief introduction to the problem,
14 case studies from India are presented to illustrate how it is being solved in practice. The
book also discusses the impact of organized retailing on small-scale traders, and finally
analyses the case studies for an overview, with conclusions and learnings drawn from
them. Inclusive Value Chains shows by practical examples that it is possible to link the
smallest producers of fresh produce, commodities and handicrafts profitably, to modern
integrated markets, within the country of origin as well as abroad.
Markets and Rural Poverty: Upgrading in value chains

Jonathan Mitchell and Christopher Coles, 2011, Earthscan, IDRC / 2011-01-01; 280 p.,
ISBN: 978-0-415-69412-4 / e-ISBN: 978-1-55250-520-5
This book explores the place of poor people within a rich variety of value chains, focusing
upon lagging, rural regions in Africa and Asia, and how they can upgrade within such
chains. Upgrading is a key concept for value chain analysis and refers to the acquisition of
technological capabilities and market linkages that enable firms to improve their
competitiveness and move into higher-value activities.
The authors examine a range of evidence to assess whether the bottom billion people,
living mainly in the rural areas of low-income countries, can improve their position through
productive strategies and, if so, how? They propose an innovative conceptual framework
of value chain upgrading for some of the most marginal producers in the poorest local
economies. They demonstrate how interventions can improve poverty and the environment
for poor people supplying a wide range of services and agricultural and food products to
local, regional and global markets. This analysis is based on empirical research conducted
in Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The main focus is
on poverty, environment and gender outcomes of upgrading interventions, and represents
one of the key challenges of contemporary development economics.
The book is available for download on the IDRC website.
The role of women producer organizations in agricultural value chains

Practical lessons from Africa and India
Aziz Elbehri and Maria Lee, 2011, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
Rome
Inducing institutional and organizational change to foster greater economic opportunities
for small holders is often best achieved by enabling stakeholders to directly confront and
compare alternative models of development operating within socio-economic and political
environments different from their own. It is this basic premise that motivated FAO to
initiate an Exposure and Exchange Programme (EEP): to enable selected women farmers
organizations from West and Central Africa and Indias SEWA (Self-Employed Women
Association) to exchange and learn from their experiences. The week-long EEP, held in
November 2010 and hosted by SEWA in Ahmedabad, state of Gujarat, India, provided an
arena to showcase the SEWA development model in action and for African and Indian
women leaders to hold group discussions and exchanges on the roles of small holders in
markets. The discussions and exchanges enabled the FAO facilitating team to identify and
formulate a number of important insights and lessons about capacity building. This report
critically evaluates the SEWA model and draws conclusions relevant to African women
producers organizations to better meet the challenges of raising Africas agricultural
potential, improve incomes for small farmers, and ensure greater food security.
33
Group Farming
Collective farming of parwal

Farmers of Tumajore village in Odisha show that
community farming results in better utilization of common
resources, enhancement of the livelihoods by providing
employment and reducing migration. Today, group farming
has spread to many surrounding villages.
umajore village under Hemgir Block of Sundargarh District

of Orissa, India is home to 74 households. Scheduled Tribes
(STs) constitute 20.72% while Scheduled Castes (SCs)
constitute 2.96% of total households. In the absence of irrigation
facilities, Tumajore villagers primarily depend on rain-fed
agriculture. Non-timber forest produce (NTFP) collection and
marketing, particularly that of Mahua flower (used for alcohol
preparation) and seeds, forms significant part of their economic
activity, during the agricultural lean period between February and
June. However, as agriculture production is not sufficient for most
of the families to sustain them throught a year, villagers also resort
to daily wage labour activities.
34
The village is characterized by high degree of food insecurity

among landless families, and those belonging to small and marginal
farmer categories. In the absence of alternative source of livelihood,
these families are at the mercy of the village landlords and private
moneylenders. Even bonded labour (locally known as goti) system
is prevalent in the region. As people are depending primarily on
subsistence agriculture and producing paddy crop only, cash crops
like vegetable cultivation received least priority from the villagers
in Tumajore. The harsh economic conditions of the villagers has
been major stumbling block for the community to invest in lift
irrigation though a small perennial water stream which runs by
the village. Barring the rainy season, during other seasons of the
year, a major patch of cultivable land is left barren. Even during

the rainy season, most of the cultivable uplands are left barren due
to lack of irrigation facilities.
Group farming
In 2001, CYSD, an NGO, began its intervention of promoting group
farming in Tumajore. Group farming, alternatively known as
community farming, is a livelihood approach conceived by CYSD.
It consists of a group of small and marginal farmers, and landless
poor in a village who work together to utilize the cultivable waste
lands or under-utilized lands to earn their livelihoods. The
participating farmers can either take community or individual land
on lease; or can pool land of individual farmers in a contiguous
Harvesting parwal
patch for such farming. In promoting group farming, CYSD has

always emphasized active participation of the community members
in identifying beneficiaries and planning crop cycles for coming
years.
operandi of the project. Together they defined the responsibilities

and formulated guidelines for internal management. Upon
completion of discussion, farmers began their activities on 09
January 2008.
CYSDs intervention in Tumajore began with the formation of

village organization involving all households. Village organization
is the Village Development Committee (VDC) that serves as a
platform to the people to take part in the development processes
of the village. Every household is a member of the VDC and takes
part in the village planning exercise being facilitated by the civil
society organization working in that particular village.
The group contributed their labour for land clearance, land

development, land plotting, constructing water channel and fencing
the area. On the other hand, CYSD provided technical and initial
handholding support on land, water and crop management;
installation of lift irrigation device (diesel pump set); operational
knowledge on irrigation scheduling and pump maintenance;
training on social mobilization and group management and helped
getting access to land under Forests Rights Act. Also CYSD helped
establish forward and backward linkages for accessing input
services from government and marketing the produce.
Looking at the benefits of group farming approach in nearby

villages, the VDC showed keen interest in taking up the activity.
One of the residents, Jeevardhan Padhan played an instrumental
role in generating interest among the villagers who later approached
CYSD project staff to support them in taking up the activity.
Taking peoples interest in Tumajore as the social capital, CYSD
with its experience and technical expertise, developed the requisite
project plan to initiate Parwal (Pointed Gourd) cultivation. The
village organization then identified the beneficiaries belonging to
the most deprived households in the village. On 14 December 2007,
a resolution was passed at the village level where 19 such most
deprived families of the village were selected to start group farming.
A patch of 3.5 acres of barren upland was identified for the purpose.
The land belonged to an individual farmer who had given away
the land to the community farming group on lease, thus making
available cultivable land which otherwise remained unutilized.
CYSD and Village Association members discussed the modus
Reaping rich harvests

All these activities started bearing fruit in six months when the 19
households started harvesting parwals. In the first seven weeks
they harvested 77.2 qtls. of parwal worth Rs. 100,760. CYSD
facilitated market linkage by making an arrangement with the local
trader who would come to the village every week and transported
the produce at his own cost. The arrangement proved beneficial as
the community did not have to search for market to sell their
produce, nor they had to spend extra amount or labour on
transporting their produce. The villagers would have faced
difficulty in marketing a huge produce of parwal but for the market
linkage.
Trader buying the produce at the village
35
Packed parwal - ready for market
Looking at the success, another 66 villagers joined the initiative.

Large patches of uncultivated lands belonging to individual farmers
were taken on lease. These lands being located near a perennial
stream in the village, did not have problem of irrigation. Presently,
66 households have been cultivating parwal in 15 acres of land.
The traders had the information of parwal being cultivated in large
quantities in this village. They visited the village once a week and
bought all the produce harvested by the group. All the produce got
sold on the same day, posing no problems of storage.
Presently, Tumajore has been able to build its own identity and on
an average nearly 100 qtls. of parwal is being produced during
the peak harvesting season between August and September.
Tumajore parwals have carved a niche in the neighboring states of
Chhatisgarh (Raipur, Bilaspur and Raigarh), Madhya Pradesh
(Bina, Babina, Jhansi, Gwalior and Sagar) and also in the nearby
cities of Jharsuguda and Sundargarh of Orissa state.
The group farming initiative brought an improvement in the
livelihoods of people in Tumajore. By providing access to lands,
the initiative helped in increasing food production, thereby reducing
the food scarce periods. By contributing to better utilisation of
waste land, the initiative resulted in providing employment and
reducing migration. Group farming with its primary focus on
promoting vegetables, evinced a lot of interest among women
farmers as an economic activity. Some landless families who were
earlier working as bonded labourers have now been able to produce
their own harvest through this community farming initiative.
36
Some landless families who were earlier

working as bonded labourers have now been
able to produce their own harvest through this
community farming initiative
With its holistic impact, this initiative has now spread to other
nearby villages as well. Farmers in other villages like Kathaphali,
Beldihi, Kuchedega, Dhanrashi, Pandiapalli, Chnadarpur, Surulata,
Ramalata in Hemgir Block are practicing group farming.
Seema Gupta
E-mail: seema@cysd.org
Ganesh Parida
E-mail: ganesh@cysd.org
Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD)
E-1, Institutional Area,
Gangadhar Meher Marg
PO. RRL, Bhubaneswar-751 013, Odisha
www.leisaindia.org

LEISA India June 2013

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no.

Magazine on Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture

Farmers and markets

June 2013 Volume 15 no. 2

LEISA India is published quarterly by AME Foundation

Dr. N.K. Sanghi, Member

ILEIA the centre for learning on sustainable agriculture is a

Farmer producer organisations

Forest Roots Network

Farmer producer organisations

Linking markets for better incomes

Farmers and markets

The challenges for family farmers have increased multifold with

In response to changing external conditions, many local alternatives

Photo: S Jayaraj (AME Foundation)

mall scale family farmers in India, though are seasonal

Graded tomatoes, ready for market

to forward integrating farmers into the markets, sells agricultural

Vegetable market in a small town

(p.6) helped the Muttlur farmers from trader exploitation by helping

that is not contaminated by pesticides and is free from GMOs. But

While family farmers are working to improve access to markets,

Harvesting and packing onions

Farmer producer organisations

Enhancing farmers share in the consumer price

ost of the people in the Karasanur micro watershed area

While the farmer receives only 17% of the

Flow of money in Onion Value Chain: Karasanur Village

Rs. 0.32 (3.8%)

Rs. 4.68 (21.6%)

Rs. 1.26 (15.1%)

Rs. 9.27 (42.8%)

Rs. 0.53 (6.4%)

Rs. 3.94 (18.2%)

Rs. 6.23 (74.7%)

Rs. 3.77 (17.4%)

Source BIWS report by ALCI India

demand an export quality produce to attract the international

Adopting Climate Smart practices

Holding a bountiful harvest

A joint problem analysis was carried out through focus group

Farmers discussing with traders

timely credit for inputs and quality seeds through convergence,

Collective marketing through Farmers Producer

Some of the climate smart practices adopted were use of good

Exposure visits to other FPO has enhanced farmers knowledge

The number of farmers who practiced onion cultivation increased

Acknowledgements: We thank the Nallavur watershed community

The Watershed community has demonstrated that through the

LEISA INDIA JUNE 2013

Linking markets for better incomes

ost of the rural areas are characterized by subsistence

Retailers lift the produce at the farm gate

As a part of the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP),

Value addition and marketing of pigeonpea

Farmers realized higher returns by selling the

Table 1: Pigeonpea procurement by SHGs

to the members from the project for procurement and processing

Quantity Amount Amount

linkages with various retail chains, wholesalers etc., for building a

Marketing linkages for watermelon

* Interest on loan was not taken into consideration

Women grade mangoes based on quality

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